


Greenwich Mean-Time

by Doctor959



Series: The Adventures of Retro Klaus [2]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1970s, Angst, BAMF Klaus Hargreeves, Canon-Typical Violence, Dave is a mench, Jealousy, M/M, Mentions of Prostitution, New York, Nightclub, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Panic Attacks, Period-Typical Homophobia, Pining, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Time Travel, YMCA
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:15:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 58,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26250088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doctor959/pseuds/Doctor959
Summary: Five drops Klaus off in 1970 with one mission - convince Dave to leave his life behind and come to 2019 or be killed by the Commission.Should be easy - right?Except Dave hasn't met Klaus yet.And Five left Klaus with nothing but an address and the shirt on his back (well, it doesn't really cover his back, but you get the idea).ORKlaus wooing Dave in 1970 Greenwich Village. (sequel to Welcome to the ChestNut House)
Relationships: Klaus Hargreeves/David "Dave" Katz
Series: The Adventures of Retro Klaus [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1906954
Comments: 384
Kudos: 412





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm baaaaaack!
> 
> The sequel (kinda) to Welcome to the ChestNut House. It will make a lot more sense if you've read that one first, but if you haven't you might pick it up.
> 
> I've plotted out the whole thing, but updates will be slower than the first fic. This is set from the moment Five dropped Klaus off in 1970 to save his love, Dave.
> 
> Don't let the first chapter fool you, there will be plenty of Dave later ;)

Klaus was a man with a plan. 

Well, a man with something that vaguely resembled a plan.

The plan was not working well so far. Apparently dropping into 1970 and walking up to Dave’s front door wasn’t as simple as it sounded. It would have been easier if he wasn’t in an apartment. Currently there was a heavy glass door with steel mesh and graffiti scratched into the glass standing between Klaus and Dave’s apartment. He tried pressing the button for number six but it either wasn’t working or there was no-one home.

The sun was starting to drop in the sky. Maybe Dave would come home from work soon?

Klaus sat on the stoop, hugging his knees to his chest with his bandaged arm and wishing he had thought to bring a coat. It had been hot in Dallas but it was only March in Greenwich Village and the tall buildings were shading out the early spring sun. He had his ridiculous top on that was open at the back and provided no warmth whatsoever and a nasty glare from an old lady who left the building to take her little fluffball dog for a walk. Klaus jumped up to let her pass and try and catch the closing door to get inside the lobby, but she pulled it firmly shut behind her, glowering at him pointedly. The little dog snarled at him as it passed. It was even wearing a stupid red bow around its neck. 

He slumped back down, resting his head against the bricks, pushing away the question that was nagging at the edge of his mind. 

_What are you going to do if you see him?_

That sounded like too much planning for Klaus. He had his first plan and that was enough. Wait for Dave to get home.

The rush hour crowds paid him little attention as they bustled past on their way to their own homes. Klaus knew from experience how invisible you could be sitting on the street. No-one liked to look at a homeless person. It’s not like he was homeless at the moment though. He was just waiting for a friend. Who hadn’t met him yet.

Oh, and he didn’t _technically_ have a home. Or any money (that little bastard Five could have at least set him up with _something_ ).

Klaus groaned as he realised he was once again broke and homeless. It didn’t matter though. He had a mission this time. He had a plan. 

Find Dave. Get Dave to fall in love with him. Save Dave’s life by bringing him to the future. 

All in three months. 

Klaus scrubbed his hands over his aching eyes.

He could do that. 

“You can’t do that.”

Klaus looked up to see the old woman from before was back. He voice was as sharp and nagging as her little dog’s bark.

“Do what?” Klaus rasped, still getting used to using his voice again. His throat was feeling a lot better, but it had been almost two weeks of not talking after having his neck assaulted not once, but twice over the last few weeks. At least the scratch from Lila’s knife was already showing signs of fading. 

“You can’t sit here. Go to the park with all the other bums,” she nagged, pointing her gloved hand towards a few trees at the end of the street. 

“I’m waiting for Dave.”

“I don’t care who you’re waiting for. You better be gone by the time I get inside or the first thing I’m doing is calling the cops.”

Usually Klaus wouldn’t be moved by a threat like that but after his run-in with the Dallas Police Department he didn’t want to find out if New York’s finest were any better. 

With a sigh, Klaus got to his feet, feeling the ache in his bones. It was probably for the better anyway, he thought. He realised he must have looked an absolute mess, fresh from time travelling, still bruised from his adventures in Dallas and who knew what his hair looked like. 

He just needed to find somewhere for the night, get cleaned up and then start again on his mission to find Dave the next day. 

When he was younger, Klaus had a talent for roaming the streets. He didn’t just survive, he was _good_ at it. He knew all the best places to spend the night where you could stay dry and not have your drugs stolen while you slept. He knew where the cafes and restaurants were that threw out food that you could still eat (spaghetti didn’t fare too well in a dumpster but bread did). He even knew where the public toilets were that actually ran hot water to wash up. 

Walking through Greenwich Village at night in a skimpy top and with no idea where he was going, Klaus had lost all his confidence. He didn’t know this area, hell, he didn’t even know this time. People pushed past him as he tucked his hands under his arms, trying to hold onto the little warmth in his body. 

After wandering around for close to an hour, he came to a warmly lit shop on the corner of a street called _Maria’s_. In the window were slices of pizza which must have been sitting there for a while given the rubbery-looking mozzarella. He looked inside to see a couple of diners sitting at woodgrain laminate tables, workers late on their way home grabbing a quick bite to eat. 

Klaus pushed open the glass door, immediately melting in the warm heat coming from the pizza ovens behind the counter. It smelled like pepperoni and grilled cheese. 

A stout woman with a stained apron that had once said “La Vita Bella” turned around, leaning on the counter expectantly. Her badly coloured brown hair was set tightly in a perm.

“What you want?” she asked in an accent, throwing a dish cloth over her shoulder. 

Klaus pointed to what he hoped was a plain cheese slice with a smile. 

She huffed and slid the pizza out of the glass bain marie onto a paper plate. 

Klaus thanked her and took the pizza to one of the tables up the back of the long narrow shop, closer to the kitchen. Elvis’ _Suspicious Minds_ drifted from a scratchy radio perched up on the pass. 

It was surprisingly good, or Klaus was just really hungry. He tried to make it last, knowing that the longer he could stay in the shop, the less time he’d be out in the freezing cold. At one point the woman came around and slapped a paper cup on his table, filling it with coffee. It was a bit unexpected but welcome. He could nurse a drink longer than he could nurse his pizza. The novelty pizza clock on the wall showed eight thirty-seven. He had a long while to go if he was planning on staying warm.

The woman had clearly worked out his plan an hour later. She called his bluff and slapped another slice of cheese pizza on the table, obviously hoping to get more money out of him if he was going to try and sit there all night. 

Joke was on her because Klaus had no intention (or means to) pay for the pizza. 

When the clock had ticked its way to ten forty-one, a group of rowdy guys with New York Yankees caps came in, hungry and fresh from a sports bar. Klaus didn’t want to give up the warmth of his spot but there had been very few customers come in to distract eagle-eyed Maria (she had to be the owner, there were no other employees in the place) while he snuck out the back. 

He slid out of the seat, downing the last of his coffee (he’d had four refills of the thick black liquid and was starting to feel a little jittery). He slipped down the corridor he’d sussed out earlier when going to the toilet, noticing the door at the back. There were two bolts, one into the top of the frame and one into the bottom. Klaus pulled the one out of the top of the frame easily, but the one at the bottom was proving difficult with his still bandaged wrist. 

He needed to get rid of that splint. Surely he’d had it on long enough? His wrist barely hurt anymore. 

He could still hear the men laughing at the front of the restaurant as he wiggled the bottom bolt, trying to pry it loose. The bolt wouldn’t budge -

 _Thwack_

Klaus arched his back away from the slap that stung against his bare skin. He turned around reaching back to rub the abused area. 

Maria was standing there, wooden spoon raised for another hit, her dark eyebrows narrowed in anger. 

Klaus threw his hands up defensively.

“You no pay?” she shouted, swinging the spoon dangerously.

“No, no!” Klaus wheezed out. “I . . .”

Even if he did have his full voice, Klaus could not think of a single excuse for trying to escape through the back door. 

Maria swiped again, hitting Klaus across the backside. He leapt away, backing himself into the corner and holding his hands up to try and defend himself from the wooden spoon of death. It’s not like he didn’t have a few kinks, but Maria was really going for it. 

“I calla the police,” she declared, turning to waddle back to the front of the shop. The sport bar guys had left, leaving just the two of them in the restaurant.

“No, wait!” Klaus called out, forcing his voice to work. “No police!”

Maria stopped, turning back to Klaus with a pensive frown. 

“You pay?” 

Klaus shook his head sheepishly, trying to show her that he had no pockets. 

She tilted her head up defiantly.

“ _Allora._ You washa the dish.”

Klaus groaned. Maria raised the spoon again. He quickly straightened up, darting into the brightly lit doorway to the kitchen. 

The kitchen was a _mess_. Being a one-woman-show obviously meant that Maria just left all the washing up until the end of the night. He felt a bit sorry for her, she would have been here all night.  
She filed up a deep sink with water and green detergent, throwing Klaus a dish brush and scourer. He looked down at his splint then at the water.

A large rubber glove slapped him in the face. Klaus fumbled it, noticing Maria grinning to herself from where she’d thrown it. He put the glove on over his splint, starting to wash the massive pile of pizza trays and sauce pots. 

Maria left him to it, pottering around in the front of the shop while he scrubbed and scrubbed.

He had to stop every now and then to dry what he’d washed, not having enough space in the small kitchen to stack the clean dishes. He noticed the little stools around the place where the short woman obviously couldn’t reach the higher shelves. Klaus stacked the trays on the top shelves with ease, refilling the dirty sink with clean water to start the next batch. 

His hand had pruned up three loads earlier. There were just _so many dishes_. 

It could have been worse though. At least the kitchen was warm and out of the elements. It didn’t do much for his plan to get some sleep though.

Finally, when the sting had settled from his back and been replaced by a dull ache from standing on the concrete floor, he finished the last of the dishes. He wiped down the steel benches, wanting to finish the job in case Maria changed her mind and actually called the cops. It absolutely wasn’t because he was scared of her skills with that wooden spoon. 

When the clock neared four in the morning, Klaus heard the door tinkle open. A man’s voice bellowed jovially through the shop, breaking the early morning silence. Klaus peeked through the pass between the kitchen and the shop to see a man wearing a leather hip-length jacket with slicked back hair. He was stout like Maria but looked at least ten years younger. Not quite young enough to be her son though. 

Maria jabbered away in Italian at him, pointing angrily towards the kitchen. Klaus ducked out of view, grabbing a broom to sweep the floor (and possibly defend himself from that spoon). 

He heard the man’s heavy footsteps come down the narrow passage to the back of the shop. Klaus ducked his head down, trying to show that he was diligently working. 

The man stood in the doorway and laughed. 

“Oh boy, so my sister got you good did she?” 

Klaus looked up. He could smell his spicy cologne from where he stood a few meters away. He nodded, hoping it was the right response. 

“Got what you deserved by the sound of it,” he said in a thick New Yorker accent, stepping into the small space. Klaus eyed him warily. By rights, this man should be pretty angry with the person who tried to rip off his sister, but he just seemed amused. 

He leaned back on the bench, arms folded across his broad chest. He was taller than Maria, but still a lot shorter than Klaus. He had a thick gold chain around his neck, and more gold adorning his fingers. He was obviously the start of the stereotype.

“So what’s your story then? You don’t look like a bum.”

Klaus cleared his throat, rubbing at his neck to help his voice. 

“Between jobs,” he scratched out. 

The man nodded, apparently satisfied. 

“Bit too pretty to be a dishwasher though?” he asked. Klaus bristled at the comment. The man was watching him, but he didn’t seem to be _leering_ the way that other men did when they were propositioning him. Still, this man wanted _something_.

The man snorted out another chuckle. “You don’t need to look like a fucking stunned deer, I’m not _bent_. I run a club down the road. The Moonwalk. Looking for someone to work a few nights a week, and the patrons like servers that look like you.”

Working at a club would be a _bad_ idea. 

Booze.

Drugs.

Trouble.

“It’s good money.”

He did need money though. 

Food.

Bed. 

Dave.

Klaus nodded. 

“Excellent,” the man clapped. He pulled out a card and handed it to Klaus, then shook his hand in his own meaty one. 

“The name is Mario Cantucci.”

Klaus couldn’t help smirk. A brother and sister called Mario and Maria? That was better than having the name Five.

“See you at seven tonight.”

Oh, that’s right. It was already a new day. 

Klaus nodded, tucking the card into his waistband. 

“Hmp, don’t talk much eh? That works for me,” Mario said, waltzing out of the kitchen. 

Klaus finished up fifteen later, leaving the kitchen spotless. He had to admit, he’d felt bad for the older woman having to work so hard. He found her at the till, counting out money. 

He waved goodbye to her with a hesitant smile. 

“ _Aspetta_ ,” she said, fossicking around near the bain-marie. She pulled out a pizza box and handed it to Klaus. A couple of dollar notes were taped to the lid. He took it gratefully, giving her a wider smile. She smiled warmly back. 

“You worka the club?” she asked, pointing out the door. Klaus nodded. 

“You come here after. I give you pizza.”

Klaus laughed out loud, leaving the shop with a wave. 

He found a bench in the park that was dry and must have already been vacated by its homeless occupant. He stuffed the notes in his waistband and opened the box to find half a cheese pizza and some cannoli. He munched on some of the dessert before closing the box and settling down on the bench to get some shut eye as the sun started to rise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> $2 was like 2 hours of minimum wage back then! 
> 
> Dave is a-coming!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus starts his job at The Moonwalk and makes a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel like I'm starting to get into the groove on this one. I like where it's heading now, took a bit of time but I think we're there!

Nowhere near enough time later, Klaus was woken by a shaggy looking dog stealing his pizza box. He sat up quickly but the greedy mutt was faster, making off into the bushes with the left over slices. There went breakfast. 

He yawned, stretching out his stiff joints. He’d slept in worse places but he wasn’t a teenager any more. He wasn’t actually sure how old he was anymore, but his back was killing him. 

Klaus went back to Dave’s apartment, pressing the buzzer for number six again. He looked at himself in the window of the old bag’s apartment from the day before. He tried to run his fingers through to smooth his matted hair but it was starting to look as wild as it had in California. He smoothed his top out, trying to spread out the wrinkles that had formed while he slept. He didn’t want to sniff his armpits. He knew it wouldn’t be pleasant. 

It seemed that his preening would all be for nothing though. After ten minutes of pressing the buzzer, Klaus was still standing on the doorstep. Did Five get the address wrong? 

He guessed from the hustle and bustle on the streets that it was around mid-morning. Maybe Dave was at work? 

Klaus had exactly zero idea where NYU was from Dave’s house. He figured it couldn’t be too far if he had to go there every day. He wished he had Ben. He supposed that Five’s reasoning for taking Ben back to 2019 instead of leaving him with Klaus made sense. Ben wasn’t there the first time Klaus and Dave met, and Klaus still managed to sweep the soldier off his feet. Plus, if Klaus was successful in getting Dave to fall in love with him again, he wasn’t sure Ben would want to be around for what came after. God, what he would do to Dave with doors that locked and without having to worry about being shot . . .

He loosened the collar of his top where his neck was feeling suddenly warm. 

He had to find Dave. 

Following the directions of an out of work actor handing out flyers for Broadway on a street corner, Klaus finally found the NYU buildings. He followed the signs to the Administration building, his stomach churning as he imagined what Dave might look like now. He was older than he had been in Vietnam. Maybe he had long hair like Klaus? Or would he be in glasses and a sweater vest? Klaus stumbled over the steps into the building, his knees feeling wobbly.

He waited in the queue of students until a round woman with a red bob and thick glasses called him forward.

“Um, I’m looking for David Katz?” 

Klaus’ heart thumped in his chest as the woman looked up a Rolodex, chewing the end of her pen. She looked vaguely familiar. . 

“Building C, Level 2. Room 289.” She looked past Klaus and called the next student in line. Klaus whispered a thanks, then headed out of the building to look for Dave’s office. 

Klaus slipped into the bathroom on the ground floor of Building C. He leaned over the sink, splashing cold water onto his face. He felt like he was going to vomit, but willed the cannoli to stay in his stomach. The last thing he needed was vomit-breath when meeting Dave.

Taking a deep breath, Klaus looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes were so dark he looked like he’d gotten back into his old eyeliner. The healing cut on his neck was standing out against his washed-out sleep-deprived skin, and he still had the remnants of the scrapes and bruises over the rest of his face that had faded so much that they made him look like he had some sort of tropical disease. 

Maybe he should wait to meet Dave? He couldn’t meet him looking like this. 

Then again, the man did fall in love with him in the muddy Vietnamese jungle where they went weeks without a decent shower. 

He couldn’t wait. He couldn’t get distracted from his mission.

Klaus steeled himself to head up to Level 2. He walked along the beige carpeted corridor and knocked on the wood panelled door labelled 289.

“Come in!” a voice that definitely wasn’t Dave’s said. 

Klaus wiped his sweaty palms on his pants and opened the door. 

The room was a small office packed with too many desks and filing cabinets. A bald man wearing suspenders was flipping through papers, ticking them seemingly at random without looking up.

“If this is about the Physics 301 assignment, there are no extensions.”

“Um. . . no, I’m just looking for Dave Katz.”

“He’s off-site today,” the man said in a bored voice. 

Klaus’ heart sunk. 

“Oh, okay.”

“Want to leave a message?” the man asked, glancing up at Klaus. 

“Um. . .” 

What could Klaus say? Dave didn’t even know him.

“That’s fine. Er . . . thanks.”

Klaus spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around downtown Manhattan. He was exhausted and wanted to get some sleep somewhere but there was nowhere quiet in New York. 

He took a quick restless nap in a park leaning against a tree until the sun began to set. His shift would be starting soon. 

The Moonwalk was only a couple of blocks away from Maria’s. The brick building was painted completely black outside, the windows tinted dark with what looked like brown paint. The bouncer was smoking a cigarette, his eyes raking over Klaus’ disheveled appearance. At least it was 1970. He just looked like every other washed up hippie roaming New York, just without the lurid colors. 

Inside was a dark bar, segmented by large pillars breaking the space into sections. The main area had a few booths down one wall, the orange vinyl cracked and peeling. There was an open space behind the circular bar in the centre that Klaus figured must have been the dancefloor. Amber-shaded lights and cigarette smoke hanging in the air set the leery mood. 

It wasn’t very busy, but it was mid week and only seven o’clock. Klaus approached the bar, smiling broadly at a woman with a perfectly circular afro, clipped tidily short. She continued to dry the glass in her hand, chewing gum exaggeratedly.

“Hi, is Mario here? I’m meant to be starting work tonight.” His voice sounded like old Sammy that Klaus used to run into at rehab occasionally. Sammy had been a pack-a-day smoker all his life, and matched it with three bottles a day of cheap white wine.

She quirked a sharp eyebrow. “Are you now?” 

Klaus huffed out a nervous laugh. “He didn’t say anything?”

The girl rolled her eyes. “He never does.” She sighed loudly, putting down the glass. “You can start by drying these,” she said, pointing to the tray of glasses. 

“Okay, how do I . . . ?” he asked, looking for the way into the circular bar. The girl pointed to a gap a few feet along. 

Klaus nodded, ducking under the gap in the bar and hitting his head on the way under. 

“Klaus,” he said with a wave. The girl didn’t look up from the lemons she was now cutting into slices.

“Nina.”

Klaus nodded, picking up the dish cloth and drying the glasses Nina had abandoned. 

The bar wasn’t busy by any means, but with only two staff on Klaus was sufficiently occupied an hour into his shift. Nina took over serving drinks which left Klaus to collect glasses and take them to the tiny kitchen where a guy with a thick bolt through his eyebrow and a leather vest called Gerry washed them. He then retrieved the clean glasses and brought them back to the bar. Seeing the way Nina eyed his splint, he unwrapped it and threw it in the bin out back the first chance he got. He needed to keep this job, he couldn’t have her saying he wasn’t able to lift the trays. The fresh air on his skin was relieving, but his wrist ached as he rotated the joint around. 

The patrons were an interesting crowd. The old queen from the dry cleaners the day that Klaus had landed was sitting up the back, nursing a beer. A couple of women were slotted into the last booth, making eyes at each other and barely noticing Klaus take their empty vodka glasses. A group of mismatched people wearing everything from tartan to high necked skivvies to fluro pink skirts were standing around the main area, arguing about politics. It didn’t take much for Klaus to work out that this was the sort of bar he would have frequented in 2019. 

He didn’t see Mario at all the whole night. A guy called Joe popped in at one point to pour himself a whisky and chat to Nina, but he left when she ignored him to serve customers. 

At midnight, Nina told Klaus to lock the door. She counted the till while Klaus helped Gerry with the last of the glasses. 

Nina was standing at the door with the keys ready to lock up before Gerry had even had a chance to grab his studded jacket. 

“Right, see you tomorrow Slim,” Nina said, obviously having forgotten Klaus’ name. She’d barely spoken to him. Actually, neither of them had, which had helped his voice immensely but been very lonely. He gave her a nod, making a show of heading in the other direction.

Klaus waited until Nina and Gerry had turned the corner before he turned back to the club. He slipped open the side door, removing the duct tape he’d stuck over the door jam to stop the door locking before slipping inside. 

There was a pile of folded black curtains in the corner of the store room that Klaus had been eyeing off all shift. He needed some sleep if he was going to find Dave. His eyes were as bloodshot as they usually were after a bender. The makeshift bed wasn’t as soft as he had hoped, but Klaus still curled up on the fabric, falling asleep almost instantly.

“Holy hell!” 

Klaus jumped awake, scrubbing at his face and trying to work out who was yelling. The bright fluorescent light stung his eyes. Time had passed but he had no idea how long he’d been asleep for.

“ _Klaus_?” 

He rubbed his face again, willing his eyes to focus. 

“Nina?”

So she _did_ know his name.

She was standing in the doorway, hands on her hips and looking very unimpressed. She was holding a set of keys in her hand. 

“What are you doing?” she asked, raising those eyebrows. 

Klaus giggled, looking around the storeroom. “I would love to explain. See the thing is . . .”

“You’re sleeping in the club?”

Klaus sighed, nodding. 

Nina picked up a jacket from the shelves then sat down on a stack of milk crates. 

“So what’s the deal, are you a homeless?”

Klaus shrugged, then nodded. “I guess.”

Nina sighed. 

“Please don’t tell Mario, I kinda need the work . . .” Klaus begged, dissolving into coughs. He rubbed at his throat.

Nina stood up, tilting her head towards the door. 

“C’mon, I know a guy that might be able to help.”

Klaus followed Nina out of the club to head towards the Hell’s Kitchen district. It was the last thing that Klaus wanted to do. He needed to find Dave, but he also did need to find somewhere to stay. He wasn’t sure that new Professor Dave would be into Klaus’ Homeless Chic. 

“So this guy helps gays and lesbians find housing when they get kicked out.”

“What do you mean get kicked out?” Klaus asked, rubbing his arms. He needed to get himself a jacket. 

“Y’know, when the landlords find out.”

Oh yes. Homophobia was still alive and well in the seventies. 

“That’s really nice of him,” Klaus said. He’d managed to avoid accepting charity on the streets. He felt guilty accepting handouts only to turn around and spend any of his spare cash on drugs. 

“I met him at college.”

“Yeah? What do you study?”

“Arts,” she snorted. “Like that’s getting me a job any time soon. My momma’s always telling me I should do something useful, get a job, all that.”

Klaus shrugged. “Do you like studying Arts?” 

Nina nodded assuredly. “It’s like learning there’s a whole world out there that nobody don’t tell no-one about.”

“Who needs a job then? You can be homeless with me!”

Klaus earned the first genuine smile from Nina, who rewarded him with a shove in the arm. 

Nina entered a run down deli pointing towards a table up the back. Klaus smiled at her, weaving through the busy tables to where she was pointing. 

Even with the man sitting with his back to Klaus, it was enough to make his heart stop. He would know the curve of those shoulders anyway, the way that dark blonde hair curls at the ends. He’s wearing a sky blue shirt instead of the khaki uniform that Klaus was used to seeing him in, but it was definitely him, it was definitely -

“Dave,” Nina said, waving a hand in front of the man’s face. He sat up straight from the paperwork he was crouched over, taking off his glasses before twisting around in his seat.

His eyes were just as beautiful as he remembered. He wasn’t _his_ Dave, but he was, more than Dallas Dave had been. His jaw was clean shaven ( _oh what Klaus wouldn’t give to nuzzle against it right now_ ) but his hair was a little longer, curling more at the ends.

“This is Klaus,” Nina finished, motioning towards Klaus who was standing next to the table, jaw hung open. 

“Err. . . he isn’t much of a talker,” Nina said by way of explanation for Klaus’ strange behaviour. Dave just smiled warmly and stuck his hand out. 

“Hi Klaus, I’m Dave.”

“Hi Dave,” Klaus said weakly, taking Dave’s hand in his own. It was warm. Dave’s hands were always so warm. 

“Why don’t you sit down?” Dave asked kindly, motioning towards the chair opposite him. Klaus clumsily drew it away from the table with a screech, attracting the ire of some of the other patrons. 

“Sorry,” he mouthed, holding up a hand. 

Dave chuckled, waving Klaus into his chair. 

“So how can I help you Klaus?” he asked, clasping his hands on the table in front of him. Klaus used every bit of self control that Ben said he didn’t have to stop himself cupping his own hands over them. 

Klaus was aware he was staring, but he couldn’t stop it. Dave, his _beautiful_ Dave, was sitting across from him, alive. 

Nina dropped into the chair on the side of the table. “He needs somewhere to live,” she prompted, but when she realised that Klaus was still staring she kept talking. “He’s working at The Moonwalk, started last night.”

“Right,” Dave said with another smile that made Klaus feel like melting into a puddle. “Let’s sort that out first.” He put his glasses back on (a pair of tortoise shell frames that had no right looking so sexy) and flipped through some papers in a manila folder. “Just arrive in New York?”

Klaus nodded, smoothing his hands over his thighs. _Pull yourself together_ , he thought to himself, _and for the little girl upstairs’ sake, stop looking at his chest._

His muscular chest, pressing against his shirt.

Whole and hale and missing the hole that the bullet had ripped through him.

“Klaus?!”

Nina was clicking her fingers in front of Klaus’ face. Klaus blinked, realising Dave was patiently waiting for something.

“Where are you from?” Nina asked, sounding like the question had been asked a few times before. 

“Err . . . Dallas.”

“ _Dallas?”_ ” Dave repeated, eyes wide. “I lived there for a bit. Moved in with my uncle before I came here.”

Klaus smiled tightly, unsure what else to do. Nina had scrunched her brow, definitely not believing that Klaus was from Dallas. 

“So I can get you a bed at the YMCA -” 

Klaus’ eyebrows shot up. _The YMCA_? It wasn’t the _actual_ YMCA, was it?

“And what about food?”

Klaus waved his hand, dismissing Dave’s concern. He could always see Maria again, and he still had those two dollars stuffed in his pants. 

“Clothes? Do you have anything else with you?” 

Klaus shook his head. Clothes would actually be useful. 

Dave dug through his pile of papers and produced a voucher printed in navy blue ink for $5. 

“I know it’s not much, but this is for the goodwill near Christopher Street.”

“I can show him,” Nina said, flicking a pack of sugar across the table. 

“Great. Now, if I can just get you to sign here,” Dave said, sliding the paperwork across to Klaus. He took the pen in his left hand, willing his stiff fingers to work. 

“You’re a vet?” Dave asked. Klaus froze, looking up from the paper work. He couldn’t know, he couldn’t have recognised him . . .

“It’s just - your tattoo,” Dave added quickly, motioning towards the mark poking out under Klaus’ short sleeve. 

Klaus took a deep breath, nodding. It would be hard to deny it with the tattoo signalling his division to all the world. He had hoped to leave that part of him in the past, now that he was going to be starting fresh with Dave. There had been a lot of good parts to his time in Vietnam, Dave being most of them, but there were a lot of parts that he’d rather forget. 

Nina stared at him, obviously not having noticed the inscription earlier. 

Klaus slid the papers back, watching Dave slot them back into the folder. He rummaged around in his satchel, pulling out a paper bag and handing it to Klaus. 

“Here’s just some stuff to get you started, toothbrush, shampoo, condoms -”

Klaus baulked, breaking into a cough that turned quickly into hiccups. Nina slapped him hard on the back. Klaus held a hand up in thanks as Dave poured him a glass of water from the bottle on the table. 

Back in Vietnam, Dave had blushed furiously if he even _saw_ the condoms in Klaus’ kit bag, and here he was handing them out to strangers. 

This was definitely an alternate reality. 

“Um, so my card is in there too. With my number. Just in case you need, like if you have any questions or need any help, right, so . . .”

Klaus fought back a smile to see that Dave looked a little flustered at giving away his number. He would have made a quip had his brains not turned to mush the moment he set eyes on Dave’s blue ones. 

Nina stood up abruptly, yanking Klaus to his feet when he went back to staring at Dave.

“Thanks Dave, I’ll see you soon,” she said, wiggling her fingers over her shoulder. Klaus smiled goofily at Dave, letting himself be escorted roughly out of the deli. 

“Whoaaa hoo boy, you got it bad,” Nina said, releasing him once they were back out on the street. He just dodged a hot dog stand as he regained his balance. 

“What?” Klaus rasped. 

“Don’t you _what_ me. You were all like -” Nina pulled her eyes open with her finger tips in a way that Klaus used to do to imitate dear old Reggie. 

“Was not,” Klaus pathetically contested. 

“Oh man, you are gone.”

“How do you even know I like guys?” Klaus shot back, coughing. He really needed to get something to sort his throat out. 

“Er, because I told you we were going to visit a guy that helped out gays and you did not bat an eyelid.”

Klaus rolled his eyes. “ _Fine_.”

“If you were trying to hide it, you were doing a fine old job of it,” she said, shoving her shoulder into Klaus. “From Dallas my arse,” she muttered under her breath. 

She led Klaus back to the Village. 

“Where are we going?” he asked, starting to recognise the neighbourhood. 

“Shopping,” Nina declared with a wicked smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dave! 
> 
> Next up - Shopping with Nina and "come to stay at the Y-M-C-A!"
> 
> Drinking and Dave and sparks start to fly (in the good and bad way)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus gets settled in a makes a friend. 
> 
> Dave and Klaus start to interact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there is no actual update schedule, but to make up for it here is a long chapter!
> 
> I've changed a few of the tags for later chapters.

Nina was almost as good a shopping partner as Allison. In fact, Klaus could almost say she was better because she was almost a foot shorter and didn’t wear the same size which meant they weren’t competing for clothes, although Klaus did try on a psychedelic halter pantsuit she had in her own pile . . . 

”Klaus, take that off,” Nina said, shielding her eyes. 

“Why?” he asked, twisting to check himself out in the mirror. The open back showed off his tiger tattoo, although it also showed his ugly bullet scar. 

“Because of that.”

Klaus looked down at where she was pointing. 

_Oh,_ yeah, maybe the suit was pulling a bit too tight around his package. 

Curse his long torso. 

Nina rolled her eyes and instead presented him with a cute pair of pants in a similar print and a white vest. Klaus sensibly also added a long emerald green coat and a beatnik-esque skivvy that would keep him warm. Nina also added a pack of tighty-whiteys and a bomber jacket with multicoloured elastic at the bottom that Klaus would never have chosen but could see the practicality of, especially with the pair of Converse that Klaus found in the shoe bucket.

And all for under five dollars!

Well, except the sunglasses that he slipped into the coat pocket. It wasn’t his fault that the cashier didn’t check, he handed them over after all. 

He bade Nina farewell and thanked her for her help, setting off for the promise of a shower and a bed. The exhaustion was finally catching up to him until he rounded the corner to where Nina had directed him and froze. 

It wasn’t just the YMCA. It was _the_ YMCA. 

Like the actual freaking Village People YMCA.

Klaus hummed his way into the building, marvelling at the way it looked exactly like the film clip and grinning like a loon. 

He stopped at the front desk, fishing the paper Dave had given him out of his shipping bag. 

“Alright, just need a few details,” a huge guy behind the desk wearing a tight white singlet asked, running his eyes over the paperwork. He obviously made good use of the gym facilities if his dark muscles were anything to go by. 

“Date of birth?”

 _Shit._ Klaus wasn’t even sure how old he was. 

Urg, he was terrible at math. Thirty. He could be around thirty. A nice even number. 

Now what year was it? 1970?

So 1970 minus thirty was . . . 

“Ummm . . . 1940?” Klaus said uncertainly. The man looked back up at him confused.

“And the date in 1940?” he asked, annunciating each word carefully.

“Oh . . . er, October first.”

A few moments later, Klaus was equipped with a room key, a set of sheets and a brown towel, walking down the halls of the actual YMCA. He bumped into a guy with a ginger beard carrying a laundry bag whose eyes lingered longer than necessary. 

He’d been there for five minutes and already been checked out by half the guys he’d passed. 

And people still thought the Village People were singing about finding accommodation in NYC. 

Please. 

Klaus unlocked the door to find the four bed dorm that was now his home was empty. There were two bunks. It didn’t look too unlike the rooms he’d stayed in during rehab, although the window was larger and not covered with bars. The top bunk on the left had a range of cheap looking suits hung from the beige painted railings. The bed underneath was unmade, the off-white sheets bunched at the bottom. There was a suitcase thrown on the top bunk on the other side leaving the stripped bed underneath for Klaus.

He quickly made up the bed, having had enough experience with fitting cardboard sheets over flimsy single mattresses during his rebab stints. He then locked his shopping bag in the small metal locker and took the key, towel and the toiletries to the shower block. 

The shower block looked exactly as Klaus had imagined them. There were identical stalls lined up along the wall with a bench and mirrors along the opposite side. The brick walls and concrete floors had been painted many times over the years and were currently mostly a mix of maroon and musty green. The water pressure was terrible but it felt like heaven to Klaus. He scrubbed away the time-travel grime that still clung to his skin, letting the hot water run cold. 

Klaus wrapped the horrid brown towel around his chest, then raked his fingers through his curls to detangle the knots. He wondered vaguely if they had hairdryers given this was an all-men’s boarding house. 

It was the YMCA in Greenwich Village in 1970. Of course there would be hairdryers. 

He found one of those small travel ones fitted into the wall that at least got a bit of volume back in his hair. 

“Ah, you must be new.” 

A skinny guy wearing a long beaded necklace and a towel around his waist pulled himself up on to the bench next to the hairdryer. Klaus noticed that he’d folded the top of the towel down to make it shorter. 

Klaus arched an eyebrow, looking at the man via his reflection in the mirror. 

The man reached down and pulled out a drawer that Klaus hadn’t noticed built into the bench. There was a proper hairdryer in there, the cord wound tightly around the handle. 

“Thanks for the tip,” Klaus said with a smile. The man hopped down, turning around to arch against the bench like a cat. 

“So where are you from?” the man asked, flipping out his bouncy light brown hair that was cut into layers around his ears, finishing just on his shoulders.

“Dallas,” Klaus said, deciding to maintain the story. 

The man giggled. “You do not look like a Texan boy.” 

Klaus shrugged. He could believe what he wanted.

“Aww, c’mon, don’t be like that.” He stuck out his hand, wrist adorned in a range of childish plastic bracelets. “I’m Tanna.”

Klaus took his offered hand. “Klaus.”

Tanna grabbed his hand and turned it over. 

“Sweet tat!” he marvelled. He grabbed at Klaus’ other hand, clearly delighting in the matching set. His intense dark eyes scanned up his arm to the cursed umbrella tattoo. Klaus eased his arm away, scooping his toiletries to his chest to hide the mark. 

“Well, if you’re up to party tonight come by The Moonwalk. I’m working behind the bar tonight, I can sort you out a drink.”

Klaus nodded with a smirk, too tired to bother explaining that he would also be working tonight. He’d soon find out. Instead he headed back to the dorm and passed out on the bed, not even bothering to get dressed. 

He was woken by one of his room mates banging his briefcase against the door. Klaus propped himself up on his elbows, squinting in the dusky low-light to see a man hanging his suit jacket on the top bunk.

“Hey,” Klaus said, waving his hello hand. “I”m Klaus.”

“Reggie,” the man replied, giving Klaus a quick nod. 

Unfortunate name, really. 

He was a bit older, probably late thirties. He had a few days’ stubble growing on his cheeks. The man looked out the window, avoiding looking at Klaus at all. 

Oh that’s right, he was still just wearing his towel.

“What time is it?” Klaus asked, a nagging thought tugging at his mind.

“Quarter to seven.”

 _Shit._ His shift started in fifteen minutes. 

Klaus leapt off the bed, jumping over to the locker at the foot of his bed and pulling out clothes. Reggie backed out of the room, mumbling something about getting a coffee. 

With a minute to spare, Klaus was rushing past the bouncer, puffing his lungs out. His throat still wasn’t the same after Dallas. He rubbed at it, feeling the dull bruising still aching in the places he’d been grabbed and hit. The doctor had said it would be a month at least before it started feeling normal and while he was losing track of the days, it definitely hadn’t been that long yet. 

The club was a lot busier on a Thursday than it had been the night before. Klaus approached the bar where Joe was chewing on a straw, watching a tall girl work the bar with Tanna. 

“Wo-ho, you _were_ listening before,” Tanna teased, pulling a beer for a grizzly looking customer further up the bar. He wore a white blouse unbuttoned almost to his navel and a pair of purple pants so tight that even Klaus would think twice.

Klaus smirked, ducking under the bar and pulling out a short black apron which he tied around his hips. Tanna’s eyes widened. 

“Why didn’t you say you worked here?” he asked in a high pitched shriek that made Joe wince. Klaus shrugged, taking a tray of dirty glasses out to Gerry, ignoring the twinge in his wrist as he hoisted up the load. 

Tanna had turned out to be pretty fun to work with. He was a bit too much in the way Klaus had always been too much, but for a few hours Klaus enjoyed his antics. 

He flirted relentlessly with any guy that approached the bar who had a decent set of muscles or chest hair (which was being displayed like a badge of honor around there). He was obviously into the hyper-masculine type, and not shy in making his intentions known. Klaus was happy to let Tanna do the talking to give his own voice a rest, but it seemed like the thing Tanna most wanted to talk about was Klaus himself.

“C’mon darls, who’s caught your eye?” Tanna teased, pushing a blue drink into his hand during a lull. He propped his head up on his hands, skinny elbows leaning on the bar. 

Klaus shook his head bashfully, trying not to think about Dave and let his cheeks blush. He sipped the sickly-sweet drink, not fooled by Tanna’s attempts to make a potent amount of alcohol taste innocuous. 

“Well you don’t seem like a closet case to me,” Tanna commented, looking Klaus over. Klaus was thankful that he’d chosen the longer sleeved top which kept his new friend’s prying eyes away from his telling tattoos and scars. He was forming the opinion that Tanna was a massive gossip and would sniff out a good story anywhere, and boy did Klaus have some stories under his belt, ones he wanted to keep hidden there.

“So if you are out, then maybe it’s that someone already has your eye?”

Klaus rolled his eyes, flicking his dish cloth at Tanna before making eye contact with a woman who was waiting at the bar to order. Klaus took her order, poured the vodka cranberry and exchanged the cash while Tanna buzzed around him like a mosquito.

“I’m right, aren’t I? Who is it? What’s he like? Is it like a crush or are you going steady?”

Klaus waved away his questions with a flick of his hand and a wry smile. 

Tanna pestered him until a buff guy with a thick moustache walked in, then he had to listen to Tanna’s graphic description of how that moustache might feel on different parts of his body. Klaus managed to escape just after midnight, Tanna opting to stay and talk to the moustache-man. 

He was greeted at Maria’s with a pinched cheek and a slice of cheese pizza. Klaus was hungry enough to scoff it down, but all the cheese was going to end badly for him if he kept eating only pizza. As if reading his mind, Maria plonked a bowl of home made salad that definitely was not on the menu next to his plate, refilling it when Klaus abandoned the pizza to finish the bowl.

He cleared the tables for her of the leftover glasses and plates from the other tables and washed them in the kitchen while she served a group that Klaus had seen earlier in the club. She pressed a margarine container into his hands as he left, the weight not reconciling with what should have been the contents. 

He opened the lid on the way home, finding a serve of some sort of eggplant lasagna and some salad on the side. He wasn’t sure why, but it made him think of Ben.

No time would even pass for his brother while Klaus was on his New York Save-Dave mission. Klaus had all these weeks to miss Ben, but Ben wouldn’t even know he was gone. It had been lonely without his ghost brother. It wasn’t like Vietnam where Klaus was surrounded by other guys and enemies and guns and missions. In Vietnam, he barely had time to think. Now, Klaus was on his own, trying to make good decisions without his moral compass telling him what to do.

What if he stuffed it all up? In Vietnam, Dave didn’t really have a lot of choice or experience with men. This New York Dave was educated, he wasn’t the naive closeted-soldier that got swept into Klaus’ whirlwind. While even at his most self-pitying Klaus couldn’t deny the obvious attraction that was still between them, new Dave would have higher expectations in a partner. 

Expectations that Klaus could so easily fuck up with one of his trademark poor decisions.

If Ben were there, Klaus knew he’d be telling him that he had this, that he could make good decisions. He just needed to trust himself. 

After he got changed for bed and slipped under the covers, Klaus whispered a message into his pillow, hoping it might be able to travel through space and time. 

_Miss you Benny-boy_.

Klaus woke after midday on Friday feeling more refreshed than he had since landing. The fuzziness that accompanied time-travel had faded away, leaving him feeling a lot more positive about his mission.

He had started to come up with a plan. 

That plan had one step so far - talk to Nina. 

The bartender was obviously good friends with Dave and would be his best bet getting closer to him. Now that he was clean and showered and had some sexy outfits to catch his beau’s eye, he was ready to woo the man into time-travelling fifty years into the future. 

He was _definitely not_ listening to that other voice in his head, the one that kept feeding him everything that could possibly go wrong in his mission.

Not today. 

After doing some much needed laundry, Klaus spent the afternoon wandering around the YMCA. It seemed that there was a pool down the end of the ground level if the smell of chlorine and half naked bodies parading back and forth were anything to go by. He could also hear the chink of iron weights that had to belong to a gym somewhere. While he wouldn’t be going in there any time soon, maybe he could find some open space for his yoga. The dorm room only had a narrow gap between the two bunks and his back was still stiff and sore. He also wanted to try and get some strength back in his left wrist after it had been incapacitated for so long.

He nodded to the huge guy on the desk who was carefully watching the comings and goings of the patrons. Klaus could see the appeal of a boarding house like this. It felt _safe_. The gay-friendly vibe certainly added to that feeling, but it was one of the most secure places that Klaus had lived.

That is, apart from the Chestnut House. 

The thought of looking up Ray was so tempting, but Klaus was deterred by an image of Five’s angry face yelling at him about disturbing the timeline. 

Maybe once he’d convinced Dave to come with him it would be safe to see what Ray was up to. Maybe he could even give him a call?

He got showered and changed for work, heading off an hour earlier for a six o’clock start. He figured Fridays were busier with after-work-drinks. He paired the psychedelic pants with the open-backed top he’d time travelled with, clean and dry after he’d put his clothes through the wash in the basement of the building. 

Although it was chilly, the sun was out and shining. Klaus tugged his new coat around his body, walking to the club. He wasn’t keen on working out the Subway system to get around, not when he could stretch his legs and wander the streets. 

“Looking good,” Nina teased in a low voice as Klaus walked behind the bar. She was pouring a row of beers for a group of guys in suits, ties loosened after their long weeks at work. He did a little twirl, shedding his coat which he folded up and put in the storeroom he’d slept in that first night. He returned to the bar, starting with his usual job of sorting out the glasses. He didn’t serve many customers yet but that suited Klaus fine. The less strain on his throat the better.

He was kept busy rounding up glasses and wiping down tables, weaving between the bustling Friday night crowd. Tanna showed up half an hour later, reaching up to give Klaus a peck on the cheek before unnecessarily sliding himself over the top of the bar. Klaus exchanged a look with Nina who snorted and shook her head. Klaus let his mouth spread into a grin. He wasn’t used to not being the most flamboyant person in the room, but he didn’t mind it. 

At least this way he could focus on . . .

“ _Dave?_ ” 

Klaus straightened up from where he’d been reaching over a group crammed into a booth as soon as he recognised that honey-like deep laugh. Dave was sitting in the middle, squashed between a group that could have been his college workmates wearing a peach linen shirt. 

“Klaus!” Dave cried, his cheeks flushing redder. Klaus could tell from the twinkle in his eyes that he’d already sunk a few beers. He loved how soft and languid Dave became when he was tipsy like this, leaning into Klaus and letting his fingers skate over the waistband of his army-cargos . . .

_Now who was blushing?_

“How are you?” Klaus asked at the same time that Dave blurted out “How’s the new job going?”. They both giggled, Klaus awkwardly stacking the empty glasses to keep his jittering hands busy. There were currently an extra five pairs of eyes watching the conversation that Klaus wished were doing anything but. 

“Job’s going well,” Klaus said, smiling widely. 

“Great to hear!” Dave replied enthusiastically. 

Klaus wanted to say more but with Dave trapped in the booth and everyone watching, he instead picked up the last of the glasses, balancing the stack under his chin.

“I’ll catch up with you later,” Dave called out as Klaus turned to head back to the bar. Klaus grinned, hoping that Dave got the message that he would very much like to catch up later. 

“So, _that’s_ who’s got your panties all strung up in knots,” Tanna said in Klaus’ ear, jumping out of nowhere. Klaus almost dropped the glasses over the bar. 

He was grinning like a cheshire cat. Klaus restacked the glasses while Tanna made no effort to hide that he was clearly checking out Dave. 

“So college boy, eh? I would not have picked that as your type,” Tanna said, raking his eyes over Klaus again. “Would have thought you were into the edgier guys.”

Klaus glanced back over his shoulder, watching as Dave laughed along with a story one of his workmates was telling. 

The only type Klaus had was Dave. 

“Leave him alone, you hag,” Nina butted in, throwing a wedge of lemon at Tanna. Klaus smiled at her thankfully. 

Klaus continued to ferry glasses between the tables, Gerry and the bar, only stopping to roll his wrist when it got sore. Every time he passed Dave’s table, his eye was drawn to him like a magnet. 

He was sent to the ladies toilets to mop up something that could have been beer or piss. After stowing the mop back behind the screen and washing his hands, he helped a drunk woman apply her lipstick so that she didn’t look like a horrifying clown. 

Klaus left the ladies only to bump into Dave who was leaving the men’s. 

“Klaus!” Dave shouted, slurring the ‘s’. He dropped a hand on Klaus’ shoulder that made his skin tingle. 

“Having a good time?” Klaus asked with a wink. Dave was swaying unsteadily, using his hand on Klaus’ shoulder as a support as much as a greeting. 

Dave rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “I handed in my thesis today, so my friends have been buying me drinks to celebrate.”

“Congratulations!” Klaus said brightly. “I’d offer to get you a drink myself -”

“Oh no,” Dave laughed, holding his other hand up. “I think I may have had enough.”

They both laughed, Klaus noticing the extra crinkles around Dave’s sparkling blue eyes. Surely Dave could feel his heart beating from where his hand held Klaus’ shoulder?

“There you are!” the drunk woman from before shouted, throwing an arm around Dave’s neck and dragging him towards the bar. “We’re doing shots!” She stopped to look at Klaus. 

“You helped me with my lippy,” she slurred, pointing a manicured finger at him. Klaus nodded, letting her drag Dave away. 

Later than night when the crowd thins out, Nina nudged Klaus’ shoulder. He’d been watching Dave while he refilled the peanut bowls. 

“Why don’t you go talk to him?” she asked. 

Klaus shook his head. “He’s drunk, let him enjoy himself.” Dave’s eyes were glassy and cheeks flushed in a way that told Klaus he’d passed tipsy long ago. Talking to him now would be pointless. Maybe he’d just pop past that deli in Hell’s Kitchen next week, try and start a conversation there. 

The night hadn’t been a complete disaster. He’d talked to Dave, and it had been positive. A step in the right direction, he told himself. 

Nina let out an exasperated sigh, patting Klaus on the back. 

Tanna came back in from a break, folding a deck of cigarettes under his sleeve like a fifties jock. 

“Can I bum one?” Klaus asked, pointing to the deck. He didn’t really want a smoke, he just wanted to get out for a bit and sort his mind out. Tanna slid one out of the pack, handing it to Klaus. He looked over at Dave, then back to Klaus. 

“Struck out?” he asked with mock sympathy. Klaus rolled his eyes, taking the lighter from Tanna’s chest pocket. He felt another little plastic bag in there. 

Tanna caught the recognition on Klaus’ face. He raised an eyebrow.

“Something to take the edge off the heartbreak?” he asked, holding the pocket open so Klaus could see inside. There were little purple pills that Klaus didn’t recognise sitting in a small baggie. 

“Tanna,” Nina sighed, scowling at him. 

“What? It’s not like he’s never taken drugs before.”

Klaus found it unnerving how easily the guy knew things about him. He knew it was all guess work, relying on Klaus to either confirm or deny, but it still made him feel raw. 

Klaus shook his head, turning away from Tanna’s offer. It surprised him to find that the urge was still there, the thrill that told his hand to reach for the package. 

Surprised and _scared_ him. 

Before he could do anything stupid, he made a beeline for the front door, lighting the cigarette before he’d even made it out of the building (hell, everyone else was smoking _inside_ the building). 

He leaned back against the cold bricks of the front of the club, around the corner and a few yards away from the bouncer. 

Five had given him three months to convince Dave to come to the future. He just needed to be patient and not rush things. He needed to think this through. 

He needed to be less like normal Klaus. 

He was broken from his thoughts when Dave stumbled around the corner, his jacket on but all twisted. Klaus was just about to call out when Dave stumbled into a couple of guys passing in the opposite direction, colliding into one of them with his shoulder.

Immediately, Dave held out a hand in apology, but it wasn’t going to count for these guys.

“Get your dirty faggot hands off me!” one of the guys shouted, shoving Dave away. Dave fell on his arse, just managing to stop his head from hitting the ground. 

Oh no they _didn’t_. 

“Hey!” Klaus called sharply, flicking his cigarette to the kerb. “Don’t touch him.”

They guys turned around, looking every bit like the homophobes Klaus had encountered in every timeline. There was no one _type_ \- short, tall, young, old, scruffy, clean-cut. It was in their eyes. In their sneers.

They were still carrying their beers. 

“Oh look, his bitch has come to save him,” 

Klaus gritted his teeth, moving towards the men with his fists balled. He could feel two spirits loitering near the laneway behind him, but he wanted to avoid using his powers if he could. Blue glowing hands and ghosts would be pretty hard to explain to Dave along with time travel and superpowered siblings. He was hoping _not_ to have to go into his powers straight away with Dave. Maybe once he was safe in 2019. 

“His bitch looks _angry_ ,” the other guy, who had clearly spilt beer down the front of his shirt earlier in the night, said. 

At least he was observant. 

Dave tried to sit up but struggled like he was balancing on a fit ball, arms and legs stretched in the wrong direction. The last time Klaus had seen him this drunk Klaus himself was lying on the ground next to him, laughing his head off. 

The first guy up ended his beer over Dave’s head. 

Klaus couldn’t remember making the decision to step forward and shove the man in the chest, but he didn’t regret it. He had years of training fighting arseholes (namely his siblings). He could have taken these guys and _kept_ his cigarette. What a waste of a dart. 

The beer stain guy took a swing which Klaus deftly ducked. He caught the man’s arm on the way through and twisted it up his back in a move Diego used to love pulling on Klaus. He felt a thump against his back that turned out to be the beer bottle (which thankfully didn’t break). Klaus kicked the man he was holding in the arse, sending him careering into the pavement then threw his elbow back, making contact with something that caused a decent yell. 

Klaus spun on his heel and threw a finishing punch. As his fist made contact with the man’s face, a shot of pain rippled through his wrist. Klaus pulled his arm into his chest, cursing at the old injury that still hadn’t healed properly. 

He looked down to see the man was also on his back, lying next to his friend. 

It wasn’t as stylish as Allison would have done or as effective as Luther, but he’d at least accomplished his mission of beating the crap out of the two homophobes. He held his right hand out for Dave and hauled the big man to his feet, catching him around the chest before he over balanced too far the other way.

“Oh my God, you just - _pow pow pow_!” Dave slurred. Klaus ducked under his arm, taking too much of Dave’s weight to be able to actually walk. He reeked of beer and whisky (not that Klaus could judge), but also that sharp minty smell that took Klaus back to sneaking behind the vehicle yard, straddling over Dave’s lap while they kissed like they weren’t in the middle of a war zone, back to falling in love with Dave all over again.

A cab pulled up just in time for Klaus to stuff Dave in the back seat and climb in after him. He was careful to keep a gap between his arse and Dave’s. He didn’t know if he’d be able to stop from snuggling into Dave if they were too close. 

Dave slept for most of the cab ride which meant that Klaus could just stare at him uninterrupted. His head was tilted against the window, showing the expanse of his stubbled neck. 

_The wrinkly old lady that lives under Dave’s flat._

_Luther’s hairy chest dancing at the rave._

_Canned ham._

Urg, Klaus didn’t know how much longer he could play this little game of courting and keep it in his pants. 

He helped drag Dave up the stairs to his apartment ( _Oh, you even know where I live!_ Dave had exclaimed), fishing the keys out of Dave’s back pocket (he gave up on trying to distract his libido. Dave was too drunk to notice his pants tightening anyways). 

Klaus pulled Dave in through the door and flicked the light on to reveal a neat apartment, sparsely decorated except for a few picture frames dotted around the mantle and side tables. Klaus dragged him through the only doorway to the bedroom to find a bed that had definitely not been made by a soldier (Sarge would have had a fit at seeing those corners). He sat Dave down on the bed with an _ompf_.

Dave’s feet didn’t smell as bad as they had in the jungle, but they weren’t much better either. Klaus yanked off Dave’s other boot, before considering whether he needed to undress Dave out of any other clothes prior to him passing out.

Nope, Klaus could still feel the strain in his pants. There was no way he was going to be able to touch any of Dave’s clothing, let alone undress him without taking this further. It wasn’t like he didn’t have any self restraint, but this was _Dave_.

“I’ll be back in a tick,” Klaus said, making himself busy with the task of finding a bucket and a glass of water to put beside the bed. He scurried out of the room, definitely not thinking about how Dave’s eyes were staring at him. 

Klaus’ heart clenched at the sight of Dave’s kitchen. The box of oats on the bench. The coffee cups left in the sink. The engagement party invitation pinned to his fridge. 

It could have been Klaus’ Cheerios next to Dave’s oats, his mug joining Dave’s in the sink. Two names on that invitation. 

That could still happen. All Klaus needed to do was stick with the plan.

Get Dave to fall in love with him (again). Convince Dave to come to the future. 

And don’t make bad decisions.

Klaus bustled back into the bedroom, holding a glass of water and a pasta pot which he set on the floor next to the bed. Dave was lying on the edge of the bed on his side, turned towards Klaus. His face was slack, but he was more lucid than he’d been in the cab. Still, he was obviously past the point where words were worth the effort. Klaus leaned forward to place the glass on the bedside table, unable to ignore the way Dave’s eyes followed his lips as he hovered over him. 

He could just _kiss_ him. He deserved it after all. He’d waited for Dave for three years, and Dave was the love of his life. 

Klaus could just look after Dave for the night, snuggle in next to him and hold him in his arms like they had during their leave days. He knew Dave loved him. 

Not like this though.

Dave needed the chance to choose Klaus, and he was clearly too drunk to do that.

Klaus pressed his lips to Dave’s sweaty forehead, brushing his hair out of his eyes as he stood back up.

“Good night Dave,” he whispered from the doorway, taking one last look as Dave already began to doze off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up - Klaus and Dave cuteness and then things go a bit south for our Klaus.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave and Klaus get some time together

Saturday afternoon didn’t have the right to be as sunny as it was. 

Klaus was propped up on his elbows, laying on the grass of the park down the street from the YMCA, stolen sunglasses hiding his bloodshot eyes. He had barely gotten any sleep after the events of the early morning, running over and over in his head what had happened with Dave. He wondered if that had been his chance, if maybe he should have made his move. 

No, Dave was drunk and vulnerable, he couldn’t have taken advantage of him like that.

All the thinking was making his head hurt. He lay back in the grass, wishing once again he had Ben to tell him what to do. 

After a short doze in the warm sun, Klaus made his way to The Moonwalk to start his shift. He was glad that he wasn’t working on Sunday, he was exhausted. Not having ever really held down a job, being responsible and reliable was really taking its toll, although he’d surprised himself with how good a worker he’d been so far. He’d been on time for every shift and barely broken any glasses (he blamed Tanna for that one that smashed on the kitchen floor, toppling off the tray as Tanna poked his ribs from behind). Maybe he could get a job when he got back home, waiting tables or something. He could work during the day while Dave lectured at the local college then they could spend the night together curled up on the couch of their small apartment, catching Dave up on rom-coms. 

It was this daydream that Klaus was caught up in when he was suddenly thrown sideways. He had collided with a guy walking the other way without even realising. 

“Sorry!” Klaus gasped out, “I didn’t -”

The girl walking with the man glared at Klaus, spitting at his feet. 

“Fuck you, Baby-Killer.”

Her eyes settled on the tattoo on Klaus’ bicep. The man shoved into Klaus again as they walked off, leaving Klaus pressed up against a tiled shop front, mouth gaping. 

She had him confused with someone, yeah? That had to be it, it had to be . . . unless that niggling feeling at the back of his mind was trying to tell him something. 

The tattoo. The tattoo that he got in Saigon with his whole troop. The tattoo that labelled him as a soldier who had fought in the Vietnam War. 

Klaus tried to remember back to his history lessons with Pogo but he definitely had not been paying attention, although he remembered something about support for the war back home waning after a while. At the time, he thought it was all about protests and politicians, but maybe it was more than that.

The girl had spat at him and called him a baby-killer and no-one else in the street said anything. No-one batted an eyelid. 

Klaus wrapped his arms around himself, barely noticing the way his hand covered the tattoo on his arm. Is this really what it was like for veterans after the war? Klaus wasn’t one for ticker-tape parades and medals of honor and all that - after all, they had gone into another country and killed thousands of people - but for most soldiers it wasn’t even their choice. Poor Jesse got drafted right after his eighteenth birthday. Klaus could tell from the moment he met the kid that he had no interest in killing men hiding in the trees. He would close his eyes every time he took a shot. Klaus himself used to aim his rifle slightly to the right to avoid adding to his entourage of ghosts. 

But the girl had been right, hadn’t she? Because it wasn’t just soldiers that Klaus’ battalion killed. There were villagers who were too dangerous to write off as not being involved with the rebels. There was the child that Anderson had found in the main street of that village with her leg torn away, blood pouring out too quickly to stop. There were the bodies of mothers lying on the side of the road, still holding their babies to their chest that haunted Klaus’ nightmares. 

She was right. Even if Klaus hadn’t wanted it or meant it or even done it himself, she was right. He was a baby killer. 

“You okay babe?” 

Klaus looked up to find Nina peering at him, waving a hand in front of his face. He blinked at her, wondering where she had come from. Apparently he’d walked into the club and behind the bar without realising. 

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine,” Klaus replied. 

Nina arched an eyebrow that would have made Five proud and handed him the short black apron. 

“Well, you better get it together because Mario is here tonight.”

Klaus nodded, swallowing to get rid of the dryness in his throat. Sure enough, Mario finishing up a jovial chat with an old guy that sat at the bar most nights. He swanned his way behind the bar, waving at some of the regulars in a way that made it clear to those watching that he was the owner. 

When his heavy hand clapped down on Klaus’ shoulder, he jumped a mile. 

“Chill out, _ragazzo_ ,” Mario laughed, his voice booming through the bar. Klaus laughed breathily, trying to hide the shake in his hands. He needed a drink. 

“So, how’s it all going?” Mario asked, eyes already searching the bar for his next conversation.

“Great!” Klaus said, looking up at the man. “Thanks again, I really needed this job” he said with a forced chuckle. Mario slapped him hard on his back. His hands were as heavy as baseball mitts. 

“Don’t even mention it, buddy,” he said, watching as a group of bachelorettes burst into the bar. He excused himself, making a beeline over to the noisy girls. 

Nina sidled up to Klaus, sliding a glass of clear liquid along the bar into Klaus’ hand. He took it and drank greedily, welcoming the burn. 

“Wo-ho, slow down there,” Nina laughed, taking the glass from him. Klaus shook his limbs out, shaking the funk from his head. 

“Urg, I needed that,” Klaus said. 

Nina stacked the glass on the tray, rearranging the dirty cups unnecessarily. Klaus could feel a conversation coming on.

“So, Chuck said there was a fight out front last night and right when he was about to intervene, he sees a skinny whelp fighting off two guys and rescuing poor Dave while kicking arse.”

Klaus widened his eyes innocently, wiping down the bar. 

“ _Apparently_ that whelp looked a lot like you,” Nina teased, taking the dish cloth out of Klaus’ hands. He shrugged.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Klaus said. Nina flicked him with the cloth. 

“Don’t lie to me Slim,” Nina warned, her lip quirking. “I know it was you. What I want to know is what happened _after_ ,” she asked with a salacious smirk.

Klaus scoffed, snatching the dish cloth back. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about Dave. Did you go home with him? Huh?” 

Klaus rolled his eyes. “I _took_ him home, that was it.” 

Nina laughed. She made smooching noises, earning a smile out of Klaus. 

“It wasn’t like that. He was drunk.”

“So?”

“So . . .”

Klaus shrugged shyly. Nina watched him with knowing eyes.

“Oh . . oh you got it bad boy!” she chuckled, clicking her tongue. “You’re in loooooove.”

Klaus threw the cloth at her face, hauling up the tray of glasses. 

“Er, Klaus?” 

Klaus spun around so quickly one of the glasses toppled off the tray and shattered on the ground. Ah, so he’d broken two glasses then, but it didn’t matter because standing at the bar was Dave. From his bloodshot eyes and pale skin Klaus could tell that he was still hung over. He was chewing his lip, wrestling with his jacket in his hands. 

“Hi Dave,” Nina called out pointedly. Dave jumped as if he’d only just noticed his friend standing here. 

“Oh, hi Nina!” 

She rolled her eyes. 

“I’ll fix this up,” Nina said, motioning towards the broken glass in exasperation. She winked at Klaus who felt his ears flush. 

“Can you talk for a second?” Dave asked, looking around. Klaus leaned into the bar between them, long arms stretched out. 

“Uh, for a bit. The boss is in today,” Klaus replied. He was trying for casual but he could hear the high pitched tone to his voice that would have had Ben laughing from the sidelines. Dave folded his jacket over his arm before bunching it up again in his hands. 

“I just wanted to say thank you for last night. And sorry. Thank you for getting me home and sorry that I was so drunk.” The words blurted out quickly in one go. Klaus forgot how much nervous Dave just melted his heart. 

Klaus smiled. “You don’t have to be sorry. We’ve all been there.” 

Dave shook his head, a smirk on his lips. “Yeah, but I was a mess. If you didn’t get me home I would have been waking up in a gutter.”

“Definitely been _there_ ,” Klaus muttered under his breath. 

“New guy, bins!” Joe called out from the kitchen. Klaus groaned.

“Well, I better get going anyways,” Dave said, stepping away. Klaus waved awkwardly, smiling like a loon. 

“See you Dave.”

“See you Klaus.”

Klaus was caught in a daze staring at Dave’s butt as he left when a skinny arm wrapped around his neck. He couldn’t help but twitch. He’d gotten better at dealing with Tanna’s touchy-feelyness but he was still sensitive about his neck. And his back. And his wrist. And now his upper left arm too.

“Is that College Boy again?” Tanna teased, sucking on a lolly pop. 

“That was Dave,” Klaus said in reply. 

“I’ll give it to you, he’s cuter than I first thought and he looks like he’s hiding a decent rig under that hideous shirt.”

Klaus gave him a playful shove. Well, he tried to keep it playful, but something tightened in his chest with Tanna speaking about his Dave like that. 

“Oi, I’m not going to ask again!” Joe called out from the kitchen, waving his hands furiously at the bins. Klaus weaseled his way out of Tanna’s grip and hurried to empty the kitchen bins. 

Klaus’ feet were aching by the end of the night. The club was absolutely packed by ten-thirty, meaning he had to push his way through the sweaty bustling crowd to collect glasses. The Saturday DJ was really good, a guy with thick chains and an open lapel that spun out sexy tunes that had Klaus humming along. Still, when three in the morning rolled around and the lights came on, he was exhausted. He finished his jobs which included the nasty task of mopping the dancefloor and joined the others who were sitting around on chairs they’d dragged into a circle around the back of the bar. Tanna was lounging across two chairs, smoking while Nina was chatting to the DJ. She passed Klaus another clear drink, this time with a little cocktail umbrella in it. He gave her a wink, sitting down in one of the spare chairs next to Julie who didn’t give him the time of day. 

Klaus sipped his drink and sighed, dissolving into the sticky chair. 

“Aw, you tired babe?” Tanna teased. Klaus flipped him the finger, rubbing his back with his other hand. Tanna scooted his chair over so that he was sitting on it backwards right in front of KIaus. He had changed into a pair of red shorts which showed off his shiny shaved legs.

“Wanna come out with us for a bit?” Tanna asked, waggling his eyebrows. Klaus dramatically rolled his head, feigning sleep. It was a lot easier to rely on body language to communicate than to use his scratchy voice still. 

“C’mon, I’ve got something that will pep you right up,” Tanna said in a low voice, tapping his breast pocket. Klaus knew exactly what was in that pocket from Tanna’s own wide-blown pupils. He shook his head, glancing over at Nina who was watching the exchange.

“Oh, don’t go pretending you don’t party,” Tanna jibed, rocking back dangerously on the chair. “I bet you’ve got all sorts of stories tucked away behind that ‘silent, mysterious type’ image you got going there.”

Klaus smirked, shaking his head again. 

“Better than the easy, floozy-boy image you got going on Tanna,” Nina fired back. Tanna burst into cackling laughter, standing up with one knee rested on the chair as he took another drag. 

“Oh here’s Blue and Vicky!” he said excitedly, clapping as two people walked into the club.

Blue must have been on the left as they had indigo blue eye shadow plastered above each eye, matching the blue silk scarf tied around their neck. They were wearing a lurex dress that didn’t really suit their stocky build, but who was Klaus to judge? 

“Klaus, this is Blue and Victoire. Babes, this is Klaus!” 

A guy wearing a skin tight brown shirt that showed off every muscle gave Klaus a wide smile. Klaus couldn’t tell if he was European, or just trying to give that impression with the slicked back hair and white jeans. Blue gave Klaus a wave, eyes focused on the bar.

“He’s no fun and won’t come out with us,” Tanna pouted. Victoire gasped dramatically. 

“That’s such a shame,” he said, eyeing Klaus carefully. Klaus glanced over at Nina who looked like she’d just swallowed a jar of those feral pickled onions that were on the bar. 

“Well, if we aren’t staying for a drink, we better go,” Blue huffed, still looking for a chance at scoring a freebie from the bar. 

“Alright. _See you later Klausy!_ ” Tanna teased, throwing an arm around Victoire’s shoulders. 

Klaus’ night ended only a few minutes later when he walked Nina back to her boarding house. It wasn’t far from the YMCA and he insisted even though she was adamant that she could take care of herself. 

“But there might be a chance to see my awesome skills from last night?” Klaus asked, looping his arm through hers. She finally relented, knocking her hip into his with a chuckle. 

Truth be told, he actually just wanted a bit of company. It was hard without Ben, harder than he’d realised it would be, and without any sort of relationship with Dave yet, Klaus was completely on his own. 

“Are you okay though?” Nina asked as they neared the front door of her boarding house, stopping out of view of the nosey manager. Apparently there were rules about Nina bringing men back to her apartment, although Klaus suspected it didn’t pose much of an issue for her. 

“Yeah, I’ll be fine - I’m just around the corner!” he said cheerfully. 

“No, I mean before. At the start of the night you looked pretty shaken up.”

Klaus sighed heavily, rubbing his hand over his tattoo. “Yeah, fine, fine. It was nothing.”

“I don’t believe you Klaus Hargreeves,” Nina said, glaring at him before turning back to her building. She turned back around, still walking backwards towards the front door.

“But if you want to talk, I’m here.”

Klaus nodded, giving her a resigned smile. She smirked, shaking her head as she turned back to her door. 

Honestly, wandering around the halls of the YMCA was as entertaining as anything else Klaus could have done wandering around New York City. He was a little cautious of heading out into the streets after the confrontation the day before, but he had plenty to look at confined to the safety of the building. He was wearing a longer sleeve that covered his tatt which made him feel a lot less on edge, but he still thought he might take it easy for the day, being one of his only days off. 

It was on one of his laps watching the muscle men march into the gym and the trashy flashy gays stumble in, makeup smeared on their faces from their crazy nights out that he saw him. 

Klaus had no idea why he hid behind the payphone booth, but unfortunately that’s what he did. He peered around the corner just to check if it was his mind playing tricks on him, but it wasn’t. 

Why was Dave here, signing in at the front desk?

Why was his heart beating so fast? 

Maybe it was something to do with his get-gay-boys housing cause? Yeah, that had to be it. 

Klaus peeked around the corner again just at the moment that Dave looked up.

He made eye contact.

Fuck. 

Klaus scrambled back, hiding behind the privacy screen that made up the phone booth. He picked up the phone, pretending to dial a number as he caught someone approaching out of the corner of his eye.

“Klaus?”

Klaus clapped the phone back down on the receiver so hard that it fell off, leaving him to scramble to collect it and click it back in. He could feel his face betraying him, blushing hotly. 

“Oh, hi Dave! I didn’t see you there,” he said, leaning an elbow on the phone. It was too high to make it look casual, so he let his elbow slide down, but too quickly causing him to stumble. He caught his balance just in time, flashing a tight grin at Dave.

“Sorry, I didn’t want to interrupt,” Dave said, motioning towards the phone with his hand. He was holding a small gym bag. 

“Oh no, just calling my great-aunt Elsie, but she isn’t picking up. It’s her birthday, but she’s deaf. Probably can’t hear the phone.”

_What the hell Klaus? What are you doing? Just be normal!_

“Oh, that’s a shame,” Dave replied sincerely. 

“So what are you doing here?” Klaus asked, looking down at the bag.

“Oh, just going for a swim,” Dave said, trying out his own form of forced casual. “Do you . . . um, do you want to join me?”

Klaus’ eyes popped out of his head. He wasn’t really much of a _swimmer_ , well, he wasn’t much of an exerciser. Got enough of that running away from people. It wasn’t like he couldn’t swim, Reggie had made sure that the Umbrella Academy were ready for anything. To be fair, he was actually a pretty good swimmer when he was younger. It’s just that this would be the first time he spent alone with Dave. 

Swimming?

Well, he’d get to see Dave with his shirt off at any rate.

“Only . . . not if you don’t want . . .”

“Sure!” Klaus blurted out. “Let me go get some shorts.”

Klaus darted back to his room, grabbing a pair of shorts that surely wouldn’t get eaten by the chlorine. He looked down at his top that definitely shouldn’t be anywhere near chlorine and went to change it when he realised what swimming meant. 

Dave with no shirt was one thing. Klaus with no shirt was another. He didn’t want a repeat of the baby killer incident from yesterday, plus he had some nasty new scars that he wasn’t keen to explain from Dallas. Mind made up, Klaus grabbed a black t-shirt that he’d been meaning to wash and threw it on, checking in the small mirror on the back of the door to make sure it covered his tattoo. 

He almost ran back to the corridor for the pool, glad to see that Dave was still waiting there. 

“Ready?” Dave asked, brightening as he saw Klaus approach. Klaus nodded and followed him through the double doors, the heat and the moisture hitting him as soon as they walked in. 

The pool wasn’t huge, only twenty-five meters, but it was still eight lanes wide. It was pretty impressive to get a pool even that big in the middle of Manhattan. Dave slipped his t-shirt off and stuffed it in his back, waiting for Klaus to do the same.

“Oh, I get cold,” Klaus said, waving his hand. Dave nodded, walking instead over to the shallow end of the pool. Klaus watched him go, appreciating the defined muscles across Dave’s back. Army or not, Dave still kept _fit_.

Klaus followed Dave into the water, not wanting to be caught staring. He slipped in, shivering a little at the shock. He thought it would be warmer from the heat in the air. The water only came just above Klaus’ belly button. 

Dave obviously was chilled too from how his nipples hardened. He still had that light smattering of blonde hair on his chest that Klaus used to run his fingertips through while he lay on his stomach as they rested between rounds. 

“Err. . . so, ready?” Dave asked. 

Klaus was so ready. He felt suddenly a little light headed as the blood pooled south in his body. He took a step forward. 

“Klaus?”

Dave’s neck and ears were flushed red.

Klaus froze. Shit. He’d been staring. Dave had caught him staring and now, oh _no_ , what was that going on in his shorts and how the hell was he going to swim with _that_ , and . . . 

“Yep! Good to go! Right behind you!”

Dave gave him a confused look, then obviously decided that the best option was just to start swimming. Klaus let out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding once Dave had taken off with a splash. 

He splashed water up at his face, hoping that it would help (how he had no idea). Dave was already at the first set of flags by the time Klaus started swimming. 

After a few strokes, he got lost in the repetitive motion, focusing his attention on the angles of his arms and roll of his shoulders rather than what was going on deep in his gut. After a couple of laps he noticed he was catching up to Dave fairly quickly and slowed down a bit. He didn’t have great technique, swinging his long straight arms around and rolling his hips from side to side. He was splashing a lot, holding his head out of the water for longer and longer breaths until Dave was upright and hanging onto the lane rope, halfway down the pool. 

“Are you ok?” Klaus asked, smoothing his hair back out of his eyes. Dave was coughing, chest heaving as he clung to the rope.

“I’m fine,” he gasped out. “Just . . . out of . . . practice.”

Klaus had assumed that Dave was a regular swimmer with his bag and his towel, just coming for a casual Sunday morning swim.

“Wanna take a quick break?” Klaus asked, tilting his head towards the edge of the pool. Dave nodded, following Klaus to the side of the pool. Klaus nimbly lifted himself out of the water, turning back to hold a hand out to help Dave who was still gasping for air. Klaus led them around to the open swim area on the other side where men were doing exercises and walking up and down the pool. He sat on the edge, dangling his legs in the water. Dave took a seat next to him.

“Sorry, I just haven’t . . for a while. . .” Dave said, still a little breathless. 

“Nah, that’s fine, neither have I,” Klaus said, kicking his feet in the water. 

“You were swimming like a fish!” Dave exclaimed, running his hands through his dark wet curls. Oh, what Klaus wouldn’t give to rake his own fingers through them. 

“Nah,” Klaus said shyly.

“For real, did you take lessons?” 

Klaus shrugged. If you could call being pitted against your siblings with threats of extra training ‘lessons’ then, sure, he took lessons.

“I could maybe help?” Klaus said, motioning towards the water. 

“Like teach me?” Dave asked hopefully. Klaus nodded. 

Moments later, Klaus and Dave were in the open swim area as Klaus demonstrated basic breathing techniques. 

“Just roll your head, and keep your ear in the pool. You don’t need to breathe every stroke, just like every second,” Klaus said, showing Dave how to leave the side of your head in the water. “Unless you’re like my brother Diego,” Klaus said excitedly, standing back up. “He could hold his breath like _forever_ , but he sunk like a lead balloon,” he added with a laugh. Dave chuckled along, his bright eyes sparkling. 

He was so beautiful. 

“Um, why don’t you try?” Klaus said, cutting off his own day dream that involved every other man in this pool getting out and leaving them alone. 

He coached Dave through the basics, which he lapped up eagerly. After only a few minutes, Dave was swimming so much better. Klaus tried not to let his hands tremble as he moved Dave’s arm into position, noticing how the other man’s skin goose-pimpled at his touch. 

It wasn’t the way Klaus had thought he’d be getting to know Dave, but hey, the little girl upstairs worked in mysterious ways. 

“Hey, that was better, wasn’t it?” Dave asked excitedly as he finished a whole lap without stopping. Klaus nodded, clapping excitedly. 

“Now who’s the fish?”

Dave glanced up at the massive clock on the wall, next to the lap clock with its slow rolling hand. 

“Hey, I’m pretty hungry,” Dave said, rubbing the water out of his eyes. 

Of course, all good things had to come to an end. 

“I know you’re new to New York, so maybe I thought I could show you a cool place to grab a bite? If you’re hungry that is, I mean, if you have the time . . . “ 

Dave was looking at his pruney hands in the water. 

“I’d love to!” Klaus replied, throwing his fists into the water and splashing Dave unexpectedly. Dave stood open mouthed in shock, then sent a wave of water back to Klaus. 

“Don’t start what you can’t finish!” Dave shouted after Klaus who darted out of the pool cackling gleefully. 

Klaus showered in the change rooms alongside Dave, having to use the communal facilities anyways. He’d ducked back to his room to grab his plastic toiletries bag and a few clothes to throw on (which he’d spent the maximum time he could choosing without delaying Dave). He exited the shower with his towel around his waist, Dave already dressed and combing his hair. He paused, watching Klaus in the mirror He caught Dave’s eye stopping at his tattoos. He quickly dried himself, throwing the t-shirt on over his damp skin. 

Hair dried and fully dressed, Klaus asked Dave to wait in the foyer while he ducked back to put his things in his room. He almost ran back to the front desk. 

“So, where to?” he asked cheerfully. 

“It’s a surprise,” Dave said, tapping his nose. 

Dave took Klaus to a beaten up old bagel van near Central Park where the smoked salmon bagels were _to die for_ (he was right). Dave paid, stating that it was his way of saying thank you for Klaus looking after him the other night. Klaus accepted graciously, wondering if this was counting as their first date. 

They walked around Central Park, Dave chatting about his work (only half of which Klaus understood, but he was sure Five would find it thrilling). The wind was a bit chilly running through Klaus’ damp hair, but he couldn’t care less. Here he was, walking around Central Park with Dave. 

“Sorry, I’ve been babbling,” Dave apologised, turning to Klaus. “How about you?”

“How about me what?” Klaus said inelegantly around a bite of his bagel. 

“What were you doing before you came here? Why did you move?”

Klaus took his time chewing his bagel, thinking of a reply. How could it not have occurred to him that he would need some sort of back story to tell Dave. All he could think about was being with him, but he hadn’t even come up what to tell Dave when it came to himself. 

He couldn’t exactly start with he was a super-powered ex-child hero who used to be a streetwalking junkie and has time travelled to the sixties not once, but twice. 

Instead Klaus shrugged. “Dunno, looking for a change.” 

Dave’s shoulders dropped at Klaus’ vague response. Shit Klaus, you’re so good at lying. Think of something!

“People weren’t so friendly in Dallas, you see, to people like -” Klaus trailed off, motioning towards himself. Dave nodded thoughtfully. 

“I, um, I noticed your tattoo. You . . . er. . . you served?”

Klaus nodded. 

“Must have been tough, coming back, settling in,” Dave said. Klaus huffed, nodding. 

“You could say that.” 

_It was hard coming back without you._

“I thought about signing up you know,” Dave said abruptly. 

“Why didn’t you?” Klaus asked, knowing full well what changed his mind. His thoughts drifted to Ray. He owed that man so much. 

“It was so strange actually,” Dave said, shaking his head. “Just a random man on the bus, just a random conversation.”

_Not so random,_ Klaus thought to himself, stuffing the last of his bagel in his mouth. It really was the best thing he’d ever eaten. 

“Good decision,” he said after swallowing down what was in his mouth. 

“You think?” Dave asked, stopping suddenly. Klaus nodded. 

“You would have died over there.”

“You didn’t,” Dave challenged. 

“Part of me did.” 

Klaus looked away, blinking back the horrible prickling sensation that was heating his eyes. No, no, no, this was meant to be their date. Their first proper date!

A warm hand settled on his shoulder. 

“Hey, are you okay?” 

Klaus nodded, tipping his head back in an effort to push the tears back behind his eyes. Dave kept talking.

“I’ve always wondered if I made the right decision, but I guess you’re right. My uncle used to always go on about there being no higher honour than giving your life for your country, but I didn’t think about what would happen if I survived.”

Klaus nodded, scrunching the paper bag up in his fist. 

“Sorry if I upset you,” Dave said, moving his hand up and down along Klaus’ arm. He wished he would just wrap him up and hold him. 

“Nah, I’m fine,” Klaus said, forcing a smile. “Hey, you said something about ice cream yeah?”

Dave smiled knowingly. Klaus didn’t care if his segue was transparent. 

“I’m paying though,” Dave warned. 

“Great! I’m getting two scoops!” Klaus declared, holding out two fingers. Dave pushed them away, laughing. 

“Alright, alright, two scoops.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, things were meant to go sour this chapter (we love our whump!) but it was already 5K words so that will be the next chapter. Wait won't be as long as it is already written.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus runs into trouble the way only Klaus can. 
> 
> Dave is soft.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW at the end

“So I saw _Dave_ yesterday,” Nina said as she knocked her hip into Klaus’. It was a Friday night, and the club was just starting to wind down, Bowie’s _Space Oddity_ playing for the last few stragglers who were finishing their drinks.

Klaus cleared his throat, trying to keep his composure. 

“Oh?” he replied, continuing to wipe the table down in the booth he was cleaning. 

“Don’t ‘oh’ me, Slim. I heard that you have a date tomorrow.”

Klaus leaned further into the booth to hide the way his face was furiously blushing. Urg, he was like a teenager. To be fair, he never blushed like this over anyone as a teenager. 

“Maybe.”

He cried out as something stung his arse. He turned around to see Nina smirking, curling a dish cloth around her hand. 

“Ow!” Klaus said indignantly, rubbing his arse cheek. His tight purple flares gave him very little protection. Nina cocked an eyebrow. 

“Fine! We have a date.”

“There. Was that so hard?” Nina asked, throwing the cloth at Klaus. He took it and used it to dry the table. 

“So, where’s he taking you?”

“I dunno,” Klaus replied coyly, “He’s meeting me at eleven tomorrow.”

“Oooh, daytime date!” Nina enthused. Klaus slumped in the booth seat.

“What am I going to wear?”

Nina cackled, sliding in next to him. 

“Well, what about that bomber jacket and those jeans you were wearing the other night?”

Klaus nodded. He’d managed to find the jeans in the tiny thrift shop next to the YMCA and spent just fifty cents out of his pay to buy them. They hugged his hips and flared out, making him look impossibly taller than he already was. 

“Aww, you’re nervous!” Nina said, throwing an arm around his shoulders. Klaus covered his face, tipping his head towards her soft ‘fro. 

“You don’t need to be nervous,” Nina said into Klaus’ ear. “Dave is already yours.”

“Yeah?” Klaus asked, looking up hopefully. 

“Yeah. He’s been into you since that day in the cafe.”

“How do you know?” Klaus asked. Even though he _knew_ he and Dave were made for each other, he still had doubts. After all, Vietnam Dave wasn’t the same as New York Dave. Five always talked about small changes having huge effects on the timeline. There was a chance this Dave wouldn’t fall in love with him. 

“Klaus, it sounds like he almost drowned trying to get your attention.”

He burst out laughing. “The swimming?”

Nina nodded. 

“I have known Dave for two years. Never have I ever known that boy to go swimming. Then what do you know, you’re staying at a place with a pool and all the sudden Davey boy wants to go swimming? Nuh uh!”

Klaus laughed, slapping his hands down on the table. Relief flooded through him knowing that Dave was trying to catch his eye just as much as he was trying to catch Dave’s. 

“C’mon Klaus-mousey! Just one drink!” Tanna taunted, grinning widely. “Even Gerry’s coming!”

He threw an arm around Gerry who ducked away, scowling. 

“And Nina’s going to drop in after her shift finishes in an hour.”

Klaus exchanged an exasperated glance with her. She looked as keen to go out as he did.

Tanna was trying to round up a group to go out for a drink after work. Klaus had already turned him down on three separate occasions, but instead of taking the hint, Tanna was just pushing harder. 

“Fine, one drink. I can’t stay too late though,” Klaus warned, sounding so unlike his old self. Who even was he?

“That’s right, you’ve got your date with College Boy,” Tanna teased, making it sound like something Klaus should be ashamed of rather than the one thing he’s been looking forward to since he landed in New York. 

Blue whistled loudly, motioning for everyone to follow. Klaus looked back at Nina one last time, sticking his tongue out. She smiled, waving him off. 

The club they were going to was just around the corner. It barely had a street front, just a green door with a bouncer and a drag queen with lurid purple eyeshadow standing on either side. They looked the group over until the queen gave the nod, motioning for the bouncer to open the door. They climbed a set of wooden stairs to what felt like the third floor. 

The club was small and looked more like an apartment than a nightclub. The smell of incense was strong, masking the stale cigarette smoke. The music was loud enough (and completely unrecognisable to Klaus), but the club seemed to be a series of joined rooms rather than open spaces. Blue led them through to a room with shag carpet lining the walls and Morrocan style floor cushions, taking a seat on the biggest one. Klaus sat cross-legged on one next to Gerry who looked very uncomfortable. Victoire took a seat next to him, giving Klaus a wink that he promptly ignored. There were a couple of guys making out in the corner. Some other guys in Haiwaiian shirts were doing shots with women twice their size on the couch up the back. 

Once upon a time, this would have been his scene. Well, not this exactly, but an out-there club with out-there people, as long as there was plenty of booze and drugs. 

Thankfully, Victoire disappeared only to return with Tanna moments later with a tray of drinks which he presented with a flourish. Gerry made to reach for a green drink that screamed Midori but Victoire swatted his hand away. 

“No, that’s Klaus’. The house special - you have to try it. It’s to _die_ for!” He said, handing Klaus the drink. The others all grabbed shots or tumblers off the tray before Blue shouted a toast.

“To dicks and holes!” 

Klaus raised his own drink, taking a big gulp instead of joining the chorus. The quicker he finished it the quicker he could go. 

“So Klaus, got any other tats?” Victoire asked, leaning into his shoulder. 

Klaus downed the rest of his drink. _How long is long enough to say that he stayed for a drink?_

Nina would be upset if he left before she got there, but Klaus would just have to apologise. He was too nervous about his date with Dave to get into the mood for partying. 

“Where’s your drink?” Tanna asked, leaning towards Klaus, who pointed to his empty glass. Tanna winced, stretching his mouth into an ugly grimace. “You drank that quick.”

Klaus shrugged. He couldn’t shout over the music to respond anyway. 

He waved the comment off, but over balanced on the cushion, grabbing Gerry’s studded shoulder at the last minute. Gerry pushed him back upright, glaring. 

“S. . ry,” he said, his tongue suddenly feeling too thick in his own mouth. Urg, the lights were suddenly a lot brighter. It felt like the light was stretching out his pupils. 

It was when the giddy rush spread through Klaus’ chest that he realised what was going on. 

“You . . .” he said, pointing a finger at Victoire who was now sitting way too close to him. 

Tanna laughed, sipping on his own ridiculous drink. “He what Klausy?” he asked, glittery eyelashes fluttering. Klaus shook his head, trying to dislodge the fuzziness that was taking hold. 

Tanna leaned in close. Klaus could smell the sickly musk perfume he wore. It reminded him of the discount chemist back home.

“Special of the House for Klaus,” he said with a wink.

Klaus sunk his head into his hands, elbows propped up on his knees. Whatever this was that Victoire had spiked his drink with, it wasn’t something that was still available in the future, and probably for good reason. It felt like his mind was melting out of his ears, but not in the way that heroin used to do. He was still very much _there_ , but also very much _not_.

Gerry asked him something but he just couldn’t hear him. Or maybe he could hear him, but he couldn’t understand the words. Klaus leaned back on his hands, staring up at the orange stucco roof. His heart felt like someone was smashing a mallet against the inside of his rib cage. It was so intense that some beats caught his breath.

He would be okay, he just had to ride it out.

He’d taken far worse shit than this.

Given, he was coming off three years of staying clean, but he’d had worse mixes on his own laid out in an alley way. 

There was a hand on his cheek that felt like an electric shock. Klaus jumped away from the sensation, the feeling spreading through his body. 

_Oh_. 

He tipped forwards, shielding his eyes from the bright light. He was wrong.

 _This_ was the drug kicking in. 

Nina could not think of anything worse than dragging herself out after having to close up The Moonwalk, but she felt like she owed it to Klaus. They had already fallen into such an easy friendship, maybe she could just sit and talk to him instead of putting up with Tanna. He invented the word drama queen.

She looked around the rooms of Vibe, the sticky club that Blue always insisted on going to because they had the hots for one of the bartenders. Nina found Tanna lounging across a few cushions on the floor of the room with the stained shag pile. He looked quite a few drinks in.

“Where’s Klaus?” she shouted over the music, not even bothering to hide the reason she’d turned up. 

Tanna laughed luxuriously, waving a hand towards the bathrooms. 

Urg, she’d have to sit and wait for him. She plonked down on one of the free cushions, sitting on her knees. 

“Wait, where’s Victoire?”

Tanna grinned, pointing to the bathroom. 

No, that couldn’t be right. Klaus would _never_ touch that sleazebag. Not with how he and Dave stared at each other. Nina was no romantic, but the two of them together was enough to make anyone swoon. 

She jumped to her feet, kicking her cushion at Tanna’s grinning face. He spilled his drink over himself with a shout. 

Nina stormed into the men’s bathrooms (although at a place like Vibe the signs on the door were just a suggestion). The black tiled walls were covered in graffiti and the stench from the urinals made her want to gag. 

She found Victoire crouched over in a stall and two long familiar legs stretched out under him. 

Nina grabbed Victoire by the back of his spandex shirt and threw him back into the suspicious puddle in the middle of the bathroom. He cried out as he landed with a thump. 

Klaus was slumped in the stall, one arm braced over the toilet seat. His eyes were wide and almost black, barely showing any of the sparkling green she had come to recognise. His shirt was unbuttoned and soaked with something - from the way his hair stuck to his cheek it could have been sweat. 

“Hey bitch, I was _helping_ him!”

“And I’m fucking Nixon,” Nina shouted, not turning away from Klaus. His eyes weren’t tracking her at all. 

“C’mon Slim, we gotta get you outta here,” Nina said, sliding her arms under Klaus’ to heave him to his feet. Once he was standing, she threw his arm over her shoulders, grateful for her platform heels giving her the height she needed to match his lanky tall frame.

She got Klaus to the top of the stairs, but he didn’t seem to have enough control over his legs to negotiate getting down them. 

“You getting him outta here?” a huge latino bouncer asked as he stomped over. Nina nodded. Even if he kicked them out, that would be the best option right now. 

He took Klaus from her with a sigh, throwing him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Nina followed behind, watching Klaus’ long hair sway with each step.

The drag queen on the door took one look at Klaus and covered her mouth dramatically, shaking her head. She nudged the other bouncer on the door who stopped a cab. 

“Thank you,” Nina said as the big bouncer dumped Klaus’ lax body into the back seat. She climbed in after him, giving the driver an address as she wriggled to adjust Klaus’ head on her lap. 

She couldn’t take Klaus back to her place, she was living in a boarding house with strict women-only rules. Gentleman callers were not welcome, although that didn’t bother Nina and her roommate. If only Ms. Jeffords who policed the comings and goings knew that only one bed in Nina’s flat ever got used. 

After checking for the fifth time that Klaus was in fact still breathing, Nina saw that the driver had pulled up out the front of a block of apartments. Nina thanked and paid the driver and all but dragged Klaus out of the cab (at least his head didn’t hit the ground, but he’d have some bruises the next day). 

She propped Klaus up against the wall and pressed the buzzer for apartment number 6. She waited, bobbing down next to Klaus. His eyes were open but he wasn’t at all cognizant of what was happening. 

Nina wasn’t claiming to know Klaus well, but she had seen him turn down drugs every time he was offered. Even Nina partook every now and then but Klaus didn’t even think about it, his answer was always the same. 

Then there was the fact that Klaus had been floating through his shift owing to a date that he had planned with Dave. Why would he write himself off like this the night before? Was he nervous?

Something wasn’t adding up. 

Dave woke with a start to the harsh buzzing sound coming from the door. It took him a moment to realise that it was the external buzzer. He fumbled for his glasses and turned on his lamp. His watch read 4:35 am. 

If it was another drunk teenager he was going to throw a shoe at them. 

Dave slid open his window and stuck his head out to look down at the street. 

There were people down there at the door. He squinted at the figures illuminated by the dim street light. There were a pair of long legs stretched out on the footpath and a familiar mop of black hair forming a perfect sphere. The head looked up.

“Dave!” Nina hissed. “Come down!”

He didn’t know for sure who was with her but he had an awful feeling who it might be.

Dave grabbed the shirt he had been wearing that day and slipped it over his head as he clattered his way through his apartment, just remembering to grab his keys on the way out. 

When he got out to the street Nina was kneeling next to a man slumped against his building. 

“Klaus,” he breathed, dropping next to her.

“I just found him like this,” Nina said, brushing Klaus’ hair away from his face. 

“Let’s get him upstairs,” Dave said, hauling Klaus to his feet. He was awkward and lanky but not heavy. He firstly tried to help a trembling Klaus walk through the door that Nina was holding open, but it became clear that Klaus was not co-operating. With Klaus’ arm already around his neck, he just scooped his arm under his knees and carried him up the stairs. 

By the second floor, Dave was starting to feel the strain. He just made it to his apartment, letting Nina through first to open the door. He dropped Klaus on his bed, the sheets still thrown aside from where he’d jumped out moments earlier. 

Nina turned on the main light. Klaus reacted slowly, lifting his arm to cover his eyes. 

“What’s wrong with him?” Dave asked. Klaus looked _terrible _. His beautiful eyes were dark and vacant. His skin was so clammy that the sweat had actually soaked into Dave’s shirt.__

__“He’s taken something,” Nina said, wringing her hands together. Dave sighed, running his hands over his face and knocking his glasses upwards. He was an understanding guy, hell, he met all different types of people in his work finding housing for the destitute and excluded, but he’d seen something else in Klaus, something more. He didn’t want to admit it to himself but he’d had high hopes for where things might go with him, ever since he saw the man walk into the cafe and had to pretend to fill out papers to calm his back flipping stomach._ _

__“I don’t think it was like that,” Nina added, watching Dave. “He hasn’t touched drugs at all before, and I know he was excited about tomorrow.”_ _

__“What are you saying?” Dave asked, re-adjusting his glasses. “You’re saying someone drugged him?”_ _

__Nina shrugged. “I wouldn’t put it past that Victoire wanker.”_ _

__They were interrupted when Klaus stirred, kicking his legs as if trying to push something away._ _

__“I reckon we better get him into the bathroom.”_ _

__Dave struggled with Klaus’ wriggling body to get him into the bathroom and positioned next to the toilet. He slumped behind Klaus, his arms around his chest. He felt the jolt of the convolution just in time to push Klaus’ head over the bowl. Nina scooped his hair back, holding it in a loose ponytail._ _

__He threw up violently, retching even after his stomach was empty. Dave rubbed circles on his back, wishing that he would be touching Klaus like this in different circumstances._ _

__“Do you reckon he got it all out?” Dave asked, wincing at a painful sounding cough._ _

__Nina shrugged, licking her lips._ _

__“Maybe, but I don’t know how long it was from when he took whatever he had and I found him. There could still be some already in his blood.”_ _

__Klaus slumped forwards, resting his cheek on the toilet seat. Dave tried to remember the last time he’d cleaned the toilet, hoping that it wasn’t as long ago as he thought it might have been._ _

__“Hey Klaus, c’mon, sit up for me,” Dave coaxed, pulling him back against his chest. Nina handed him the hand towel which Dave used to wipe Klaus’ face. He was still trembling like an old car motor._ _

__Dave felt Klaus’ muscles suddenly tighten, then it was like a wave of strength overtook his body as he pushed himself away from Dave, scrambling to his feet. He backed out of the bathroom, eyes wild, his tattooed palm held out to shield himself from Nina and Dave._ _

__“Whoa, take it easy man,” Nina said, mirroring his hands. Klaus leapt back, eyes focused on something to her left, then snapping to just above her head. He jumped back further, slamming back into the door frame. Dave slowly got to his feet, not wanting to startle Klaus further._ _

__“What’s happening?” Dave murmured out of the side of his mouth._ _

__“He’s tripping out,” Nina mumbled back, keeping her eye on Klaus. She slowly stepped forwards, sending Klaus staggering back into the living room._ _

__“Klaus, it’s just Nina,” Dave said, moving slowly out of the bathroom. Klaus glanced quickly at Nina, then back to a spot near the couch. He knocked his hip on the side table, sending a photo frame of Dave’s trip to San Fran last year crashing to the ground._ _

__“Klaus,” Dave repeated in a slow, steady voice. The shaking man looked up at Dave and finally there was recognition in his eyes._ _

__“There we go,” Nina whispered, backing away behind Dave. She tilted her head, nodding Dave forward._ _

__“Klaus,” Dave repeated, reaching his hands forward. Klaus was chewing his lip, listing sideways. Just as Klaus’ eyes rolled the wrong way and he lost his balance entirely, Dave darted forward, cushioning Klaus’ fall with his own body, easing them both down to the rug. He held Klaus’ cheek against his chest until Klaus finally started to still. He was still awake, but Dave couldn’t feel his heart trying to escape his chest anymore. He exchanged a look with Nina who nodded and picked up her jacket._ _

__“I’m going to head off, I think I’m just setting him off. He seems calmer with you.”_ _

__“Are you okay getting home?” Dave whispered. He knew she lived very close but it was late._ _

__“Yeah, sun’s already starting to come up,” she said, nodding towards the window. Sure enough, the sky was beginning to lighten. She gave him a wave and slipped out of the apartment, leaving Dave with Klaus._ _

__Dave carried Klaus to his bedroom, laying him out on the bed. Klaus was more settled, but his eyes were still wide open. Dave left to move the small armchair from the living area into his bedroom._ _

__He pulled the chair closer to the bed, so close that he could touch Klaus. He was lying on his side, dark eyes watching Dave silently. With a sigh, Dave carded his fingers through Klaus’ sweaty hair, sweeping it back from his face. He could feel his body still shaking under his hand._ _

__He felt a wave of anger surge through him. Who would do something like this to him? Dave fought the protective urge to slide into bed next to Klaus and gather him into his arms. It would probably do more harm than good for poor Klaus. Dave could never frighten him like that._ _

__He stroked Klaus’ cheek, moving his thumb over the ridge. Slowly, Klaus’ eyes started to droop closed. Once his breathing had started to ease out, Dave sat back in the armchair, letting out a long breath._ _

__

__

__Klaus was thirsty. His mouth was drier than a desert. He forced his eyes open to be faced with a room far brighter than he’d been waking up to over the last few weeks. He blinked over and over, his vision taking longer than normal to focus._ _

__Why was Dave in his room?_ _

__He was slumped in a chair, arms crossed over his chest, snoring softly. Klaus tried to sit up but his body felt so heavy. He needed water._ _

__A ringing sound tore through his skull, ripping his ears apart. He brought his hands up to cover them, his left hand missing its target completely._ _

__Dave jumped awake, eyes darting around the room._ _

__“Klaus,” he said, reaching towards him with concern written over his face, then looking towards the door. The ringing kept going._ _

__“I’ll be back,” Dave promised, dashing out of the door._ _

__Klaus uncovered his ears as the ringing stopped. He felt like death, and he should know._ _

___”You got home okay? Yeah, he’s awake . . . I don’t know . . . yeah, he got some sleep not long after you left . . . look, I’ll be honest - he looks pretty rough . . . I don’t know . . . . I don’t know . . . I might call a doctor or maybe we might need to go to the hospital if he doesn’t get better. . . yeah I’ll let you know. Thanks . . .”_ _ _

__Klaus tried again to move, this time having some success rolling onto his back. Dave was in the doorway watching him._ _

__“How are you feeling?” he asked, his voice quiet. Klaus blinked, not able to do much else. Dave came to sit back in the chair, passing Klaus a glass of water. He tried to take it, but his hand missed._ _

__“Here,” Dave said, setting the glass down on the bedside table. Klaus whimpered, eyes following the water._ _

__“It’s okay, I’m just going to sit you up.”_ _

__Dave shuffled Klaus into a sitting position, propping him up against the bed head. Klaus tried to keep his head from rolling off his neck. He felt the water wetting his lips before he realised that Dave was tilting the glass into his mouth. He drank greedily, taking the glass in his stiff fingers._ _

__“Hang on, go slow,” Dave warned, pulling the glass away. Klaus licked his lips, feeling more alert._ _

__“How are you feeling?” Dave repeated. Klaus sighed, his eyes rolling around the room._ _

__“Like shit,” he whispered. Dave raked his fingers through Klaus’ hair in a gesture that made Klaus moan happily._ _

__“Feels nice,” he rasped._ _

__“You had us really worried.”_ _

__Klaus looked at Dave’s bloodshot eyes. He must have barely slept._ _

__“Sry,” he muttered, rubbing a hand over his aching face._ _

__“What happened?” Dave asked._ _

__“I don’t know . . .” Klaus replied, his voice cracking. He looked over to the glass which Dave passed him without delay. This time Klaus finished the water, letting it soothe his sore throat._ _

__“I don’t know. I had a drink . . .” Klaus said, looking down at his tattooed palms. Usually when he had blackout nights like this, he at least had Ben to tell him what happened. Losing all memory of the night without anyone knowing what happened was terrifying._ _

__Klaus felt his bottom lip tremble. He sunk his teeth into it. He couldn’t cry in front of Dave._ _

__“I don’t know what happened.”_ _

__Dave rested a gentle hand in his own trembling ones. He spoke slowly._ _

__“Nina thinks that maybe you were spiked.”_ _

__Klaus nodded, letting the facts he already knew take hold. The heaviness, the headache, the dryness, the way he couldn’t handle the light or the loud noises. He’d woken up like this for years and years, it didn’t take much for him to know he was coming down._ _

__The devastation of realising his run of staying clean had ended was too much._ _

__He wanted Ben . . . he wanted . . ._ _

__Dave wrapped his arms around him, pulling him into his chest. Klaus had not even realised that he was sobbing, salty tears running into his mouth._ _

__“Shhh, Nina found you and brought you here. You’re okay, you’re okay.”_ _

__Dave held him, letting Klaus cry out the horrible hole that he felt inside._ _

__This wasn’t how Klaus had planned on getting to know Dave, although he had to admit, feeling his arms around him felt so nice._ _

__

__After Klaus had calmed, Dave had suggested a shower. Klaus nodded, realising that he must smell horrible. Dave showed him the bathroom, setting out a towel for him with a new toothbrush and a fresh bar of soap set on top. Klaus sniffed, accepting the items gratefully. After making sure Klaus was steady enough not to knock himself out of the shower, Dave left him to clean up._ _

__He felt more in control of his emotions after showering and brushing his teeth. Klaus wrapped the towel around his waist and headed out to the living area._ _

__He smelled butter as he stepped into the kitchen, holding his stomach as it turned violently. For a moment he thought he might want to throw up, then realised maybe it was just so empty it was eating itself._ _

__“Feel better?” Dave asked hopefully. His eyes were locked onto Klaus’ own, almost like he was refusing to look at Klaus’ half naked body. Klaus couldn’t blame him, he had probably been a very unattractive mess last night._ _

__He replied with a nod._ _

__“Pancakes?” Dave offered, holding up a spatula. Klaus shrugged._ _

__“I put some clothes on the bed. I know they’ll be way too big, but they should do for now.”_ _

__Klaus didn’t want to think about the state of his own clothes. He nodded, shuffling back into the bedroom. The sight of Dave’s soft sweats folded on the corner of the bed made him tear up all over again._ _

__After another cry, Klaus got dressed and returned to the kitchen. He hoped Dave couldn’t see his splotchy face._ _

__He wasn’t even sure why he was feeling so teary. Occasionally some drugs gave him side effects that made him really emotional when he came down, or maybe it was the realisation that he had been doing so well avoiding drugs, knowing how slippery the slope would be from here._ _

__Klaus took a seat at the small table opposite Dave who was lathering syrup on his pancakes. He dubiously cut a small section of his pancake and ate it, waiting to see how his body would react. Surprisingly, there was no compulsion to clutch his stomach or expel his guts. Klaus took the syrup from next to Dave’s plate and lathered his pancakes in it, digging in._ _

__“Do you like them?” Dave asked, cutting off another section of his own stack. Klaus nodded, surprised at how good they were. They were light and fluffy and tasted really good despite his stuffed up senses._ _

__“Thank you,” Klaus said, setting his fork and knife down. “Thanks for taking care of me.”_ _

__Dave smiled at just the wrong moment, letting some syrup dribble out of his mouth. He coughed, reaching for a napkin to wipe up the mess. Klaus’ lips quirked at the sight._ _

__“Sorry!” Dave coughed, scrubbing at his face. “I was about to say that I owed you one after the other night.”_ _

__Klaus waved his hand, sipping at the tall glass of water Dave had left next to his plate._ _

__“I think that I now owe you way more.”_ _

__“No you don’t,” Dave was quick to reply. “I’m happy to do it.”_ _

__Klaus looked up to see Dave smiling at him fondly. If he didn’t feel so awful he would have jumped straight into Dave’s lap._ _

__By the time breakfast was over, Klaus’ skin was beginning to itch. He knew it wasn’t a physiological symptom of coming down, but a psychological one. That’s what Ben would have told him anyway._ _

___It’s not real Klaus, you just have to ignore it_._ _

__He could ignore it, or he could fix it._ _

__No, one relapse was not going to send him spiraling. It wouldn’t be as bad this time, the effects would be over way quicker than when he sobered up in 2019. Back then, he was cleaning up a decade of abuse. This was just one night, one hit, and not one he’d even chosen for himself._ _

___Think of Ben,_ he told himself. _Think of Ray, who believed in you. Think of Allison, think of Diego and Vanya, hell even Five and Luther. They all want you to stay sober.__ _

___Think of Dave._ _ _

__

__“Wanna watch a movie? There’s one starting at midday.”_ _

__Klaus nodded, leaving his thoughts in the kitchen as he followed Dave into the living area. He plonked on the couch, rubbing his forehead._ _

__“Do you want some paracetamol?” Dave asked. Klaus shook his head with determination, kneading at the pain behind his brow._ _

__When he opened his eyes again, Dave was setting down a jug of water with a glass on the small wooden coffee table. He turned on the TV, flicking the dial until he settled on a musical fanfare._ _

__“Have you seen Batman? With Adam West?” Dave asked casually, although Klaus could tell that he was actually really excited._ _

__“Nah, sounds good,” he replied. Dave happily nestled his way onto the couch, only to jump up a moment later and head back into his room. Klaus watched as two men in bright spandex appeared on screen._ _

__Something soft draped around his shoulders. Klaus looked back, his hands feeling the fabric to find Dave wrapping him in a soft, old blanket._ _

__“You were shaking,” Dave said simply, wrapping the blanket tighter around Klaus before settling back next to him on the couch. Klaus bit his tongue, stopping the flood of emotion threatening to take hold again. Instead, he tipped sideways, resting his head on Dave’s shoulder, wrapped up warmly and watching an old movie with his love._ _

__“Sorry I screwed up our day-date,” Klaus said as Batman jumped off a pier with a cartoon style bomb._ _

__“You didn’t screw up anything Klaus. I like spending time with you.”_ _

__Klaus nuzzled in closer, almost purring as Dave’s arm reached around him, holding him close._ _

__

__With assurances that, yes, he was feeling a lot better (which he was) and yes, he was fine to walk back to the Y, Klaus left Dave’s to start to get ready for work. Dave had begged him to call in sick, but Klaus couldn’t afford to lose this job. Dave had even mentioned going to the police to report Victoire but Klaus shut that idea down very quickly. He’d had enough of the police from this timeline thank you very much._ _

__Taking his soiled clothes in a plastic bag (Dave didn’t have a machine in his apartment complex with the laundromat so close and they’d been busy all afternoon cuddled up on the couch), Klaus headed back to the Y in Dave’s baggy clothes._ _

__After a quick change Klaus set out again, stopping off at Maria’s for a strong cup of coffee. She handed him a jar with more coffee inside to take with him on her way. If only Maria knew every hipster cafe would serve their coffee in jars in fifty years’ time._ _

__His warm coffee in his hands, Klaus headed into the bar, grateful that it was a busy Saturday night. He was already exhausted, but at least the shift would go quickly._ _

__He didn’t say hello to anyone like usual, instead setting straight to work collecting glasses and ferrying them to Gerry (who watched him carefully like he was going to keel over any minute). He emptied the bins before Joe yelled at him, sipping his jar of coffee between tasks._ _

__It wasn’t until he had to take a set of clean glasses back out to the bar that he was forced to confront what had happened the night before._ _

__“He’s alive!” Tanna exclaimed, throwing his hands out. He was in the middle of prepping what looked like a large order of shots, spraying vodka everywhere from the bottle still in his hand._ _

__Klaus shook his head in exasperation, hauling another lot of dirty dishes back to the kitchen._ _

__He still didn’t fully understand what had happened the night before, but from what he’d pieced together from what Dave said Nina said, Victoire had spiked his drink. It wasn’t the first time that Klaus had unknowingly had something slipped in his drink, and this time it sounded like Nina had found him before anything had happened. Still, the thought of himself being back in that situation made his skin crawl. When he was in the midst of his drug fuelled benders a few years ago it hadn’t seemed that bad, but now he felt differently. Whether he liked it or not, what happened at that club had shaken him._ _

__Gerry handed him another tray of cups to take back out to the bar. Klaus sighed, vowing to avoid Tanna’s end of the bar._ _

__Still, that slippery eel found him._ _

__“How’s the head today?” Tanna pouted, serving a customer right next to where Klaus was cleaning. He ignored the question, wiping down the remains of someone’s cocktail from the sticky wet bar._ _

__“Awww, don’t be embarrassed!” Tanna patted Klaus’ shoulder. Klaus turned away, dropping the sodden cloth in the bucket at his feet. The other man wasn’t getting the message._ _

__Klaus just wanted him to go away. He had been feeling shit all shift but his chest was starting to tighten painfully. It was so stuffy in the bar, was it always that stuffy?_ _

__He kneaded his fingers into his chest, feeling his heart thudding against his hand._ _

__He thought back to the kind, gentle words Ben used to tell him when this started to happen._ _

___Just breathe, you idiot._ _ _

__Ok, so it _was_ Ben. Maybe not so kind and gentle. _ _

__“It was just a bit of fun -”_ _

__“You can tell that creep that slipping shit into someone’s drink is a fucked up way to have fun.”_ _

__Nina’s hands were on her hips, firing a glare at Tanna that could have split him in half if she had powers. She stood between the two of them, staring at Tanna until he backed down and moved away from Klaus. Nina filled the gap, threading her arm comfortingly around Klaus’ back. He focused on the grounding feeling of her warm arm against the slip of exposed skin between his waistband and the back of his top._ _

__“Your boy could have killed him,” she spat venomously, her arm tightening around Klaus. “How fucking desperate is he that he has to drug guys to get any?”_ _

__Tanna put his hands up defensively. “Alright, alright, shit move. You’re right. I’ll talk to him.”_ _

__“It don’t matter shit if you talk to him or not because he is not going anywhere near Klaus ever again.”_ _

__With that, Nina tugged Klaus towards the back door, dropping her shoulder into Tanna as they passed him._ _

__

__As soon as they hit the cold air, Klaus dropped down on the back concrete steps, ducking his head between his knees. He felt Nina sit next to him, her hand rubbing the back of his neck. He tried to slow down his breathing before he spiralled into what Ben used to call “Trying To Go Full Diego”. Klaus knew it was some sort of joke about Diego’s secondary power but he never found it funny when he felt like he couldn’t breathe. His brother’s tactic worked though, making jokes that would make Klaus so frustrated that he would have something else to focus on. Something past the panic._ _

__He missed Ben _so much_._ _

__“Talk to me, honey.”_ _

__Klaus ran his hands over his face, pressing his fingertips into his brow._ _

__“This has happened before, hasn’t it?” Nina asked carefully._ _

__How could Klaus answer that? He couldn’t think of a single occasion when he’d been given drugs without his knowledge or consent, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t happened. He was just too out of it to realise, or if he was being honest, he preferred to just pretend it never happened when he woke up in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people. It was easier than admitting how little control he had over his own body when he was on a bender, let alone think about what that meant._ _

__“C’mon Klaus, talk to me,” Nina said tenderly, placing her hand on his knee. Klaus sucked in a deep breath, focusing on letting it out slowly. It made him cough, his throat sore again after expelling his stomach contents earlier that morning._ _

__A few deep breaths later, Klaus spoke._ _

__“I’ve been clean for three years.”_ _

__He looked down at the words etched on his hands as he heard Nina’s breath hitch ever so slightly._ _

__“Oh Klaus . . .”_ _

__“It’s fine,” Klaus said, waving his hand absently, still looking down between his knees. “Nothing like spending the night with your head down a beautiful guy’s toilet to remind you why you don’t do that anymore . . .”_ _

__“Are you worried about that?” Nina asked, stilling his shaking hand by taking it in her own._ _

__Klaus shrugged, then nodded. “Yeah, I guess. Last time . . .”_ _

__The tears that spilled down Klaus’ cheeks took him by surprise. They were uninvited, hitting him without any warning._ _

__Last time . . . Dave had died and he was desperate to see him._ _

__Last time . . . Ben had been there, cheering him on._ _

__Last time . . . was so hard he wasn’t sure if he could do it again._ _

__Klaus wiped the back of his hand across his nose._ _

__Nina’s arms wrapped around him, gathering his body against hers. Her hand stroked through his hair so much like Allison would do. It tipped him over the edge._ _

__He sobbed into Nina’s neck, letting her hold him while he broke apart._ _

__Klaus could count on his hand the number of people who had seen him cry, most of those times only belonging to the recent years of his life._ _

__“Sorry,” he sniffed, scrubbing at his face. Nina just shushed him, stroking his head._ _

__“I got you Klaus,” she said with determination. “You don’t need to worry, I got you.”_ _

__She turned Klaus’ head so he was looking into her fierce eyes. Her lips quirked._ _

__“And the way that your boy was last night, I think he’s got you too.”_ _

__Klaus nudged her playfully._ _

__“C’mon,” he said with a sniff. “Let’s go finish up, then let Maria force-feed us our body weight in pizza.”_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Non-con drug use, small panic attack
> 
> Awww, Daaaaaaaave! Ninaaaaaa!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The friction between Tanna and Klaus reaches boiling point. 
> 
> *TW at the end*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wondered why this chapter was taking so long to write, then realised it was over 6k words. Whoops!

Klaus swung his small woven purse by the string as he skipped down the street. He glanced at himself in the reflection of a shop window, pleased to see that his hair was looking good and he was still happy with his outfit choice. 

He pushed through the glass doors and into the foyer of Dave’s building at the university. He checked the time on the large clock on the wall to see that he was seven minutes early. 

The elevator dinged and the doors opened, spilling out academics dressed in bland turtle necks and tweed jackets. Last to come out was Dave, looking sharp in his blue blazer and mustard shirt. Next to him was a stout man with receding hair and thick Ray-Ban style glasses. He looked at Klaus carefully. 

“You’re here!” Dave said, stepping out of the lift to greet Klaus with a hug. The other man trailed behind, watching. Klaus had no idea how safe it was for two men to be hugging in broad daylight like this. On the one hand, it was a college which from what he knew tended to be more liberal about these things, and Klaus wouldn’t usually care anyway, but this was also Dave’s workplace and the last thing he wanted was for Dave to get in trouble. 

Although, he was about to try to convince Dave to quit his job and move fifty years into the future so maybe a bit of trouble in his workplace wouldn’t be a bad thing in this circumstance. 

Klaus winked at the other man over Dave’s shoulder, smirking as he uncomfortably fidgeted with his tie.

“Oh, sorry Klaus, this is Robin, one of my colleagues.” 

Klaus held his hand out to shake Robin’s, who was focused on the coloured bracelets around his wrist. He and Nina had bought them from a street stall on the way to work a week earlier. 

“Nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you,” Robin said without a hint of sarcasm. Klaus smiled. 

“Nice to meet you too.”

Robin checked the clock on the wall. “Please excuse me, I have an appointment at two, so if I don’t get something to eat now I’ll miss my chance.”

With that, the man scurried off through the front doors. 

“Robin works in my office,” Dave said cheerfully, leading Klaus out through the same doors. 

“And he’s okay with us?” Klaus asked, keeping his voice low until they were at least out of earshot of Dave’s workplace. 

“Yeah, he’s fine.” Dave tilted his head thoughtfully as they rounded the corner, leaving university grounds. “Well, kinda. His mom’s been putting a lot of pressure on him to find a girl, but he’s not having much luck, so I try not to talk about that sort of thing too much in front of him, you know, rubbing salt into the wound.”

Klaus nodded. It warmed him to know that Dave had found a supportive place to work and was thriving. Vietnam Dave hadn’t even really been _out_ , not with anyone but himself.

“So, there’s this great little deli near here that has the best sandwiches,” Dave said happily, pointing vaguely up ahead.

“Fine, but I’m paying.”

“No Klaus, you don’t have to do that,” Dave protested, but Klaus shook his head.

“Nuh-uh, I even brought my purse. I’m paying.”

Klaus moaned as he took another bite of his Rueben, making Dave blush delightfully. He was right, they really were the best sandwiches. Dave has inhaled his own sandwich so quickly that now he had nothing to do but watch as Klaus ate his. He winked at Dave, making the poor man flush even more. He also didn’t miss the way Dave squirmed in his seat. 

“So, the moon?” Klaus prompted. 

“Oh what? Oh yeah . . . the moon. So yeah, I was saying . . .” Dave scrambled to find his spot, thoroughly distracted to Klaus’ satisfaction. “Oh yeah. Lots of people think the Space Race is won, but there’s still so much to be discovered.”

Klaus nodded. He could listen to Dave talk about the moon all day. 

Luther on the other hand . . . hard pass. 

“Still . . . I don’t know.”

“What do you mean?” Klaus asked, daintily dabbing a napkin at his mouth. 

“I don’t know if that’s still where I’m headed. I mean, that’s the reason I started my studies, to work for NASA, join the Space Race, but it’s so competitive now. I don’t know if I’ll ever get a job there.”

“What would you do if you didn’t get a job at NASA?” Klaus sipped his lemonade, his sandwich finished. Between Dave taking him to all the best food places in New York and Maria, Five was going to have trouble hauling his heavy arse through the time vortex. 

“I dunno. I like teaching. I mean, I’m not a lecturer or anything, just an assistant, but maybe I’d do that? I don’t know.” 

“I could see you as a teacher,” Klaus mused, resting his chin on his hand. 

“Yeah?” Dave asked. 

Klaus nodded. “You’re so patient, and you’re a good listener. You’d make a great teacher.”

He reached out and brushed his fingertips over Dave’s hand, just enough to make his cheeks blush but not enough for anyone passing by to notice. 

They hadn’t really talked about what had happened Friday night. Dave had tried to bring it up multiple times, but he was no match for Klaus’ carefully honed skills of deflection. To be honest, Klaus wasn’t entirely sure why he was so resistant to talking to Dave about _that_ stuff. In Vietnam, Klaus had spent many late nights pouring his soul out to Dave, telling him about living on the streets and his addiction and things he wasn’t proud of (although he glossed over some of the less savoury aspects after Dave got fairly upset when he found out one of the ways that Klaus had _paid_ for his drugs). 

This time, though, it was all different. When Klaus had landed in Vietnam, he was deep in withdrawal and unable to hide his sallow skin or shaking hands from Dave. This time he’d shown Dave a very different side of himself, a side he could actually be proud of. He was Klaus, who was holding down a job, had a place to live and living the squeaky clean lifestyle, not Klaus who barely even knew his name was Klaus and lived from bed to bed to alleyway. Maybe, this time, he could bury his past and have a fresh start, for real. 

(He was ignoring the other voice, the one telling him that he was actually scared that Dave wouldn’t love him if he knew the truth.)

True to his word, Klaus dashed up to the counter to pay before Dave got any chivalrous ideas. While he was waiting in line, he saw the New York Times from the day before abandoned on a stool, folded open a few pages in. Klaus picked it up, recognising the man in the photograph.

He paid distractedly, trying to skim over the article. 

“What have you got there?” Dave asked, leaning over his shoulder. 

“I know this guy,” Klaus said, pointing to the picture. He could see more white in the man’s beard in the black-and-white photo, and his suit and hat were styled a little differently, but he was still looking as regal as ever. 

The caption read _Civil rights leader Raymond Chestnut after meeting with governors at City Hall in Austin._

“He looks familiar,” Dave said, squinting. Klaus quickly folded up the paper, realising his mistake. 

If Dave remembered Ray from the bus, he might also remember that Ray was the one to convince him not to go to Vietnam, which might raise questions that Klaus wasn’t ready to answer. 

He stuffed the pages in his back pocket, hooking his arm through Dave’s own. 

“Just an old friend of my sister’s. I’ll have to tell her that he’s famous!”

“I didn’t know you had a sister,” Dave said, holding the door open for Klaus. 

“Yeah, her name is Allison. How about you, do you have any siblings?”

After another delightful afternoon walking through Central Park and watching the ducks on the pond, Dave walked Klaus back to the Y. Once they were almost at the front doors, Dave slowed down, taking Klaus’ hand in his. His skin tingled where their hands made contact. 

Klaus waited expectantly as Dave paused like he was going to say something, but then closed his mouth again. He felt Dave’s sweaty hand tighten around his own. 

They reached the door, stopping awkwardly beside a mail box hand-in-hand while men filtered in and out of the building with gym bags slung over their shoulders. 

“So . . .” Klaus said, smiling shyly at Dave. He had a feeling he knew what the man was thinking about but he didn’t want to push. This had to be Dave’s decision to move their relationship along. It didn’t seem fair that he abuse his ‘insider knowledge’ from his past life with Dave to manipulate him in any way. Klaus could not bare to think that Dave was anything but willing to be with him. 

Abruptly pulling Klaus away from his thoughts, Dave bent forward clumsily, leaning in close. They were both the same height, but Dave instinctively ducked into the movement, making it more awkward than it needed to be. Klaus just managed to catch his lips on his own before Dave pulled away again, flushed brilliantly red. His eyes were wide and startled and Klaus was worried that he actually wasn’t breathing. 

Klaus flashed him a coy smile, batting his eyelashes. 

“My my Mr. Katz, how forward of you,” he said in his best southern-belle impersonation. Dave looked horrified.

“Oh Klaus, I’m sor-”

Klaus cut him off with another kiss, pushing his lips against Dave’s without any finesse. It was quicker than he wanted, but they were still standing in public and the last thing he wanted was to make Dave uncomfortable. 

It took the other man a moment, but a wide grin spread over Dave’s face. 

“So I guess that means you wouldn’t object to another date?”

Klaus grinned, holding both of Dave’s hands in his own. 

“Maybe we could stay in this time?” he asked in a low voice. 

A choking sound rumbled from Dave’s throat. 

“Sure, sure . . . yeah, I’ll . . . er. . . I’ll cook.”

“Great! I’m not working Sunday . . .”

“Sunday it is!”

Klaus gave Dave a flirty wave and just about skipped into the building.

After almost an hour lying on his bunk revisiting the wonderful day he spent with Dave in his mind, the high of the warm, fuzzy feelings started to subside and leave him with a brain that could function a bit more than the mush it had been since kissing Dave. It was then that Klaus remembered the newspaper article he’d souveniered from the deli. 

He jumped up to his knees and pulled the paper out of his back pocket, unfolding it over the scratchy blanket. 

The article was about a new change to Texan law that Ray had negotiated with the local governors, changes that made seperatist practices illegal. Changes that meant that people like Ray and Allison could now drink coffee sitting in any restaurant they wanted to. 

Klaus wasn’t ashamed of the tears that streamed down his cheeks as he studied the photo of Ray, standing tall and proud out the front of the Austin Town Hall. 

He was struck with an idea. With the giddiness of a fan girl, Klaus raced to the front desk where he asked Leroy (he had become quite friendly with the huge guy who manned the reception) for a pen and paper. Leroy leaned under the desk to fetch the items, the Jackson 5 playing on his little scratchy radio in the background. He sat at the small desk in the foyer that was usually used by people filling out forms and the like and got to writing. 

_Hi Ray,_

_I know you thought you’d never hear from me again, but guess what! Five dropped me off in 1970 with a very special mission involving a boy who never became a soldier. Well, he’s a man now, but you get it. I’m only here for another six weeks until the old man comes to pick us up, but I thought it would be cool if maybe we could talk and catch up? Only if you want to though, I know it’s been longer for you than me, and I completely understand if it’s too much but it would be great to hear from you._

_I’m staying at the YMCA in Greenwich Village - phone number 555-8486._

_From your favourite Hargreeve (well, apart from the obvious),_

_Klaus.  
_

“Ooooh, who are you writing a love letter to?”

Klaus jumped, his hands clamping over the paper to shield it from Tanna’s nosiness but he was as quick-handed as he was quick-tongued. He whipped the letter out from under Klaus, holding it aloft. Klaus threw the chair back and grabbed for it, clearly taller than Tanna but not wanting to rip it.

“Who’s Ray?” Tanna sing songed, trying to read the letter from where he was waving it in his hand high above his head. Klaus lunged for it, grabbing his skinny arm and pulling it down easily. They might both be skinny, but Klaus was far stronger. 

“Ow, ow, stop hurting me!” Tanna whined. 

“Boys,” Leroy warned, barely looking up from the papers he was shuffling around his desk. 

Klaus snatched the letter out of Tanna’s hands, the paper tearing from where he pulled it out of the other man’s grip. The tear ran right through his sign-off. He stormed back up to Leroy’s desk, his face flushed red. Leroy handed over the sticky tape without Klaus even needing to ask. 

Tanna leaned on the desk next to him. Klaus turned his shoulder towards him, shielding his repair job. 

“Didn’t see you as a ‘one in everyone port’ type,” Tanna mused, clicking the pen that he picked up from the desk. Klaus ignored him, taping the letter carefully back together. He folded it and put it in the envelope that had appeared on the desk. Tanna kept clicking the pen as Klaus neatly folded the letter. 

“Although, all you army guys are a bit like that, aren’t they? With all the travelling?”

Tanna was speaking loudly enough that everyone in the lobby would be able to hear him. Klaus had been successfully covering up his evidence of his time in Vietnam since the horrible incident in the street, and here Tanna was, declaring it to the world. 

_Click-click, click-click_

“I knew you were hiding something, you sly dog.”

Klaus’ hands were shaking as he slotted the letter into the envelope. He was about to ask for another pen when Leroy reached forward and roughly snatched the one Tanna had been clicking, giving it to Klaus. Tanna pouted, rubbing his hands as if Leroy had hurt him. 

Klaus wrote down Ray’s address on the front, hoping he still lived there.

“I’ll get it posted,” Leroy said kindly. Klaus nodded, sliding the letter to him. He turned and headed back to his room, pushing past Tanna a little rougher than necessary. He ignored his little gasp and cries of _”Did you see that?”_ although he did chuckle when he heard Leroy’s response.

“I ain’t seen nothing.”

Although Klaus has successfully avoided Tanna for the rest of the afternoon, he had forgotten that they would be working together that night. At least Nina was there to buffer the pain. 

Klaus had just finished changing the keg and was checking with Julie behind the bar that it was all working fine when Klaus felt a skinny arm drape around his neck. 

“So, guess what I found out about this one today,” Tanna declared to his audience at the bar, which included Blue, Victoire and a couple of his other mates that were only there for the free drinks Tanna poured them. Klaus shrugged his arm off, turning to go find something, _anything_ else to do that wouldn’t put him near Tanna. 

“Our Klausy-mousey isn’t as innocent as he seems. He’s got not one but _two_ cocks on the go.” 

Klaus looked up to lock eyes with Nina at the other side of the bar. She threw her dishcloth down on the counter, shaking her head. He could almost hear the _hell no_ she was muttering as she strutted up the length of the bar towards them. 

What was Klaus doing letting this guy walk all over him? Why was he waiting for Nina to fight his battles?

What would old Klaus do?

He certainly wouldn’t have put up with this shit. 

He may not be able to talk as much as he used to with his throat, but he wouldn’t need his voice for long for this. 

Klaus turned on the spot, settling his shoulders back as he smiled at Tanna.

“Oh Tanna, if you wanted some tips on how to pull a guy, you just needed to ask.”

He couldn’t help but smirk at the way Tanna’s mouth dropped into a perfect “O”. Klaus noticed that his friends were laughing, clearly not used to seeing anyone retaliate to Tanna’s silver-tongue. The other man recovered quickly, looking Klaus up and down. 

“Honey, you can take all the vanilla boys.”

Klaus wasn’t completely sure vanilla meant the same thing in the 70s as in the future, but it didn’t matter. He could still work with it.

“Of course, because you only go for those big macho guys who can dominate you, yeah?” Klaus gave Tanna his most sympathetic look. “Shame they don’t go for you.”

The cluster of his friends at the bar roared with laughter. Klaus even saw Julie smirk out of the corner of his eye. 

Tanna glared at Klaus, folding his arms across his chest. 

“I’m the one who turns them down,” he protested. “I have standards, Klaus, something you lost taking what you could get in the jungle.” He stepped forward with a sinister smile. “Bet they passed you around like a bottle of cheap vodka over there.”

The laughing had stopped. Klaus felt Nina brush against his elbow, just enough for him to know she was there. 

Klaus calmly shook his head, quirking his lips. “I don’t know what sort of fantasies help you jerk off to sleep at night, but if that does it for you then who am I to judge?” He reached out and patted Tanna condescendingly on the shoulder. “Maybe someday you’ll find a guy who can role play that with you?”

“Oh _Tanna_ , I like him,” one of the newbies at the bar called out. Tanna’s jaw was clenched tightly.

“Oh, don’t do that, sweetie,” Klaus said, stroking the side of his face. He leaned forward and whispered in a low voice, “you want to keep the muscles _loose_.” 

Klaus gave Tanna a lewd wink, then spun on his heel, sauntering off to the kitchens to pick up the next load of glasses. 

He had just lifted the tray when Nina came skidding in after him. 

“What was _that?_ ” she almost squealed, grabbing at his arm. Klaus adjusted his grip on the tray so that he wouldn’t drop it. 

He shrugged. 

“Oh, you shut him up. You shut him up good,” Nina said breathlessly. 

Klaus laughed. “I should have done that weeks ago.”

“Why didn’t you?”

Klaus shrugged again. “Trying to put all that behind me. Bitch Klaus wasn’t a very nice person to be around.”

“Fair,” Nina said thoughtfully. “But maybe he can come out to play every now and then.”

He burst into giggles at the curious look on Nina’s face. “Yeah, okay, I’ll bring them out to play - just for you.”

Nina grinned, dancing around the kitchen until Joe snapped at her to get back to work. 

Klaus was mopping up a liquidy mess that he wanted to remain unknown in the bathroom when Victoire entered. He stiffened involuntarily, looking around to see if there was anyone else in the stalls. It was late in the night or early in the morning more accurately, with only the serious party-goers left. 

“Oh, hey Klaus,” the other man said, clearly also surprised to find himself alone in the bathroom with him. He looked almost nervous. 

Klaus gave him a nod, going back to mopping. If he could just finish quickly, he could leave with the excuse of needing to do another job. 

“Are . . . are you okay? After the other night?”

Klaus rolled his eyes, facing away from Victoire. The nerve of him! 

“Fine,” he ground out, dumping the mop back in the bucket. He’d finish this later. He wasn’t going to be in a room with this man any longer. He started to push the bucket out of the way into the corner.

“Oh . . . good. You looked in a bad way.”

Klaus stopped, turning towards Victoire with a vicious glare. 

“That can happen when someone drugs your drink without you knowing.”

There was an expression on Victoire’s face that Klaus hadn’t expected. Remorse maybe?

“I said, I told him . . . nevermind. It shouldn’t have happened. I’m sorry.”

Klaus nodded. He wasn’t about to tell the man it was okay. He owed this guy nothing, but still, he’d made an effort. 

Without another word, he left Victoire standing in the leftovers of the mess in the bathroom.

When he re-entered the bar area to wash his hands in the sink, Tanna was flirting with a new group of guys. One was wearing a leather vest showing off his shiny muscles while the other wore a tight green tank top. The second man had caught his eye on Klaus, who determinedly looked away. While it would have been fun to rile up Tanna who was clearly trying to hook up with one of these guys by flirting back, he’d had his fun for the night. Plus, he didn’t actually want to play those games anymore. He had Dave, sweet, beautiful Dave who was going to cook him dinner! 

It was getting close to closing up time and Klaus was tired. He and some of the other workers were starting to do the end-of-night jobs, hoping to pack up earlier and get out at a reasonable time. He left the bar area to start emptying the bins, condensing the contents into two garbage bags that he hoped wouldn’t leak as he lugged them out the back to the alleyway. 

He opened the dumpster, glad that he was putting things into it rather than his old habits of looking for things to take out of it and threw the bags in, wiping the suspicious liquid on his hands against the brick wall. 

“That’s okay, you won’t need your hands clean,” a husky voice said from the shadows across the alley. Klaus had been vaguely aware of the presence but had dismissed it. It wasn’t unusual on a Friday or Saturday night for patrons to come out to this alley to swap drugs or shoot up or engage in other activities that needed dark corners. On the quieter nights, sometimes homeless people would linger in the unlit corners. On those nights Klaus always made sure to stash away packets of nuts and pretzels from the bar to hand out when he took the bins out. 

Klaus ignored the man, closing the dumpster lid without jamming his fingers. 

He wasn’t expecting the hand that closed around the back of his neck. 

Klaus threw an elbow back, catching a hard chest before another set of hands gripped his wrists. 

“He said this one liked to put up a bit of a fight,” the other man said to the first. The strong smell of bourbon and cigarette smoke hit Klaus as he struggled. He wriggled his way around to face his attackers. 

He recognised the green tank first. They were the two guys from the bar, the one Tanna had been talking to. The one in the green tank was still gripping his wrists tightly. 

“What . . . what are you doing?” Klaus demanded in his most authoritative voice. 

“Ha, listen to him,” the leather-clad one jeered. He stroked his hand down Klaus’ chest, lower and lower until . . . 

Klaus lifted his knee and struck the man hard in the gut. He’d been aiming lower, but Klaus’ legs were too long for the guy’s shorter stature. 

“Fuck!” the man shouted, doubling over. “He said he liked it rough, but fucking hell!”

The man in the green gripped Klaus around the back of the neck and slammed him face-first into the brick wall. Klaus groaned as his cheek scraped against the bricks. He could feel the pulse of the music inside reverberate into his skin.

“You do that again and we take it out of what we pay you.”

_What they pay . . .?_

“Hey, no, you’ve got it wrong. I don’t do that shit . . .” 

He stopped before he said _anymore_. 

“Not what we heard,” the leather one said, having recovered from his hit. “It’s fine, you can drop the act. It doesn’t really do it for us anyway. We’re simple guys with simple needs.”

“No, I’m really not kidding,” Klaus said desperately as his arms were pressed into the wall above his head, crossed over so they could be held down with one meaty hand. “Let me go.”

Klaus felt the man press behind him, feeling the hardness in the other man’s pants through the fabric. 

“Fuck, he’s a tall bastard,” the man behind him complained. “Spread his legs out to bring him down a bit.” 

The man pinning his arms released the hand on his back to push Klaus’ legs apart as he heard the sound of a zip releasing. Instead of co-operating, Klaus dropped to his knees, pulling all his weight downwards. Just as he’d hoped, the man holding him hadn’t expected it. Although it meant scraping his front down the rough bricks, it also meant that the grip on his wrists was released. 

Klaus leapt to his feet, throwing a hook at the guy in the green tank, landing the punch in his jaw, then aiming another kick at the guy in the leather who now had his pants unzipped and pulled down. He found his target this time, the man curling into a ball with a howl. Klaus took his chance to race back to the side door of the club when his ankle was kicked out from under him, sending him tumbling onto the concrete. He landed on his back, scrambling to get onto his feet again and get away when something hard connected with the side of his head. Klaus felt the strength leave his limbs as he teetered on the edge of blacking out. Holding on tightly, he willed his arms to cover his head as the second blow hit his back. 

He heard a scream, then a familiar voice hollering “ _Get security!”_ ”. He uncovered his head to see the blurry vision of a smaller figure with a black halo around her head swinging a long weapon at a green blur. A group of black smudges ran into Klaus’ field of vision, smothering the green. 

Clacking shoes against the concrete jarred Klaus’ already ringing ears. Small, warm hands pressed his stinging face.

“Klaus, oh God, are you okay?”

He grunted out an affirmative, but it may not have gotten past his lips. 

“Klaus, can you hear me?”

Rolling his head towards the voice, he nodded, wincing at the way the small movement made his face burn and his head throb. 

He tried to push himself up, letting Nina help him when he lost perspective of which way that was. Her firm, strong hands in his back got him into a sitting position. 

“Your head, Slim, it looks bad.”

Klaus gingerly touched it, not surprised to find it sticky and wet. 

“Head always bleed ‘lot,” he mumbled dismissively. 

Someone else’s shoes scraped against the ground beside him. 

“Nina, get him to my car. I’ll take him to the hospital.” Ah, Joe. He didn’t sound like his normal grouchy self. He sounded concerned?

“No hospital,” Klaus said firmly. “I’m fine, just need a bath.”

“A bath?” Nina asked incredulously. “Klaus, you really need to go to a hospital.”

“No hospital,” he repeated. All he needed was a hospital digging into the fact that he had no social security number, no records and technically didn’t even exist yet. 

“Okay, well let me call Dave.”

“No, no, please Nina. I just want to get cleaned up and rest.” 

Klaus’ vision was starting to clear in one eye, although there was blood dripping into his other. This was the last thing he wanted Dave to see. Even though it wasn’t like it had been _before_ , Klaus couldn’t help but feel the dejavu of the situation from his time on the streets. The only difference was that before he would have gone along with it for the money. 

No, he needed to keep Dave as far away from this as possible. 

Friendlier hands helped Klaus back into the club and into the bathroom, practically carrying him when he started to lose his footing. He noticed that the lights in the club were on, meaning it had closed for the night. He was plopped down on a chair near the sink where Nina began to wash the blood away with a wet dishcloth. Klaus watched as the water turned copper-coloured every time she rinsed the cloth out. 

“What happened?” she asked gently, dabbing the cloth over his temple. The cold water stung like crazy. 

“They may have mistaken me for a lady of the night.”

“So they beat you up?”

“Hey, I beat them up too,” Klaus pouted. Nina rubbed her hand soothingly over Klaus’ other cheek, the one that didn’t hurt. 

“You did,” she said sympathetically. “Actually, you got them both pretty good. Chuck was impressed.”

Klaus hummed with a slight nod. 

“Why did they think you were a hooker?”

Klaus shrugged. Before, it had been an easy assumption to make, but now Klaus had been dressing more demurely, trying to cover up his Vietnam tattoo, although his fashion choices were still outrageous. He was wearing a white t-shirt (which was probably ruined) and his psychedelic pants, which were loud but not the signal he used to wear to get that kind of attention. 

Nina tipped his head forward so he was leaning over the basin and started to wash the blood out of his hair. 

“Are you sure about the hospital?” Nina asked. “You got hit pretty hard in the head.”

“No hospital.”

Nina sighed, wringing the water out of Klaus’ locks. “Fine, but at least let Joe drive you back home.”

Klaus looked back up in the mirror. His face was cleaned of the blood but it was still red and swollen down one side, the skin scraped away over his cheek. There was a red gash peeking out from his hairline near his temple, steadily seeping out fresh blood. He noticed that his white top was destroyed, blood soaked into the fabric from the neckline down his shoulder. 

Nina took out the first aid kit and wound a bandage around Klaus’ head, pressing a dressing firmly over the cut on his temple. 

“Okay, let’s go find Joe.”

The ride back to the Y had been quiet. Joe didn’t speak for the short trip, leaving Klaus to watch the sunrise peek through the gaps between each block of buildings. 

He pulled up out front of the building in a no parking zone, surprising Klaus when he got out of the driver’s seat. Klaus struggled to get himself out of the car after stiffening up, but Joe lifted him out, setting him on his feet. 

“Thanks,” Klaus muttered, trying to make eye contact but failing with the throbbing that had now taken over his head.

“Call us if you need anything,” Joe said gruffly, getting back in the car. 

Klaus ducked his head as he limped into the foyer, not wanting to see the sympathetic look on Leroy’s face. He would walk past the bathroom block. The shower could wait, he just needed a sleep. 

Except stepping out of the block with his towel wrapped around his head and his toiletries bag in hand was Tanna and suddenly everything fit together. 

“You did it.”

The other man blanched, stepping back into the bathrooms. Klaus lunged forward, grabbing Tanna by the stupid beaded necklace laying on his bare chest. 

“Klaus,” Tanna said, holding his hands out. “Just calm down.”

Instead, Klaus backed him into the bathroom, an unfamiliar sensation prickling through his body. 

“It was just a little joke,” Tanna said weakly, ducking out of the necklace that Klaus was holding so that he could put some distance between them. 

“Does this look like a joke?” Klaus asked, pointing to his face. He sighed, the pieces slotting into place.

“You spiked my drink too, didn’t you?” 

“It was just a bit of fun, you weren’t meant to down it that quickly!” Tanna protested. 

“What are you doing all this for?” Klaus asked, throwing the necklace to the side. His hands were shaking. 

“Don’t be thick Klaus,” Tanna fired back with a newfound strength. “You might be fooling everyone else that you’re a nice guy, but I know better.”

“What?”

“The way Joe goes on about how you’re _such_ a good worker and why can’t I be more like you, and don’t get me started on Victoire went on about you - _he’s so funny_.” Tanna rolled his eyes. “Even cold-hearted Nina thinks the sun shines out of your arse, but you and I both know that it’s all an act.”

“What are you on about?” Klaus asked, although less confidently. Surely Tanna couldn’t know about the time travel and the mission and everything that came with it?

“Takes a junkie to know a junkie,” Tanna taunts. “Oh yes, I worked it out. Those scars on your arms might be old, but they’re there. The way you look at pills whenever they’re around, it’s not hard to tell that you used to use, and use _a lot_.”

“So wow, my big secret is out,” Klaus replied, crossing his arms. “So what, you’re going to punish me for it? ”

“No, just let people know who the _real_ Klaus is. Why should I be the one to cop all the shit when you’re just as bad?”

“But I’m not,” Klaus retorted. “I don’t use anymore.”

“So what, that makes you better than me?”

Klaus leaned on the lockers, his ankle aching badly. “Is that what this is, you’re jealous?”

Tanna rolled his eyes, huffing. “No!”

“So you were happy to ruin my life just so you didn’t feel so shit about yourself? You could have ruined _everything_!”

The awful prickling feeling intensified as Klaus realised just how much damage Tanna had done. Klaus had been doing pretty well ignoring the call of his old self-medication habits since the drink-spiking, but it was just a matter of time, wasn’t it? And that horrible shame that he’d been pushing away for the last hour reminding him that it wasn’t that long ago when Klaus would have happily dropped to his knees for the promise of a few dollars. 

He had thought he could be a new person, but now he realised he was just a fool. 

Tanna sneered back at him. 

“Or maybe you weren’t good enough to start with. You sure as hell aren’t good enough for _him_.” 

Klaus let the sensation that had been simmering beneath the surface of his skin take hold. He punched Tanna square in the face, sending him sprawling over the bench seat with a shriek. Blood streamed from his nose, over his hands that he was using to try to stem the flow. 

“Oh my God!” Tanna shouted, staring at the red staining his hands. 

The anger surged again in Klaus, compelling him to hit Tanna again, _to make him pay_ , but he was held back by an immovable force. 

“Klaus, buddy, just calm down.”

Leroy was holding him, strong but gentle. The guy that worked in the weights gym ran to Tanna, pressing a towel to his nose. 

Klaus sagged as the adrenaline dissolved away, leaving him with his broken body. He was starting to not feel so good. He leaned heavily on Leroy, the pain in his head intensifying. 

He felt himself being shuffled along down the corridor and led into a small room with a desk on one side, filing cabinets lining the other. He was helped into a chair. As soon as Leroy’s hands left Klaus, he tipped sideways and would have fallen off the chair had the big man’s strong grip not caught him. 

“Maybe the floor is better,” he said, propping Klaus up against the wall. Klaus drew his knees up to his chest, pressing his forehead against his forearms to try and calm the pounding in his head. 

He drifted in and out as he sat there, curled up on the office floor. Leroy came and went, speaking on the phone at one point.

“ _Yeah, that would be good . . . . he came in all beat up . . . no idea, but he punched another guest . . . I know . . . yeah, it’s serious . . . alright, thanks . . ._ ”

Not long after the call, Klaus heard the rustling of plastic next to his ear. 

“Hey Klaus?” 

He lifted his head, gazing blearily at Leroy. 

“We have strict no-violence policies here Klaus. The zero-tolerance rule means it’s completely out of my hands.”

Klaus looked down at the garbage bag roughly the size of the possessions he had accumulated in this timeline. He placed his hand on it, sliding it closer. 

“I’m sorry Klaus, but you can’t stay here.”

Klaus nodded. He’d been in this situation many times before. No use getting upset. 

There was a knock at the door. Leroy opened it, letting in Dave. 

Klaus cried out, covering his face with his hands. He didn’t want Dave to see him like this, not again. 

“I’ll give you a second,” Leroy said, squeezing out of the tight space. 

Klaus felt gentle hands touch his shoulder. 

“Klaus, can you look at me?” 

He lifted his head slowly, squinting in the bright light of the office. His vision was blurred, but he saw the softness of Dave’s face. He didn’t look angry or disappointed, just his normal kind self. 

“C’mon, let’s go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Attempted rape/non-con  
> Not so nice talk about Klaus' past, referencing to non-con drug use
> 
> Aww, Dave! Lots of Dave and Klaus fluff next chapter with a teeny bit of angst mixed in.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave is soft

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just an excuse for some Dave mushiness. Only warnings are for the aftermath of what happened last chapter, nothing new.
> 
> Oh yeah, and some outdated medical practices, nothing crazy. It was 1970

The last thing Dave had expected in the early hours of Sunday morning was a call from Leroy. Occasionally it would be Dave calling Leroy at all hours trying to find a room for a young man in need, but it was rarely the other way around. 

The bottom dropped out from his stomach when Leroy said that Klaus had been hurt. He grabbed his keys and jacket and flagged a cab down, despite the short distance to the Y. He had to get there as quickly as possible. 

He had been given barely any details over the phone, just something had happened earlier in the night, then Klaus had hit someone. It seemed so unlike the gentle should Dave had gotten to know. Then again, Klaus had apparently fought off those two guys when Dave got drunk, not that he remembered any of it. 

Seeing Klaus curled in a ball on the floor of the office made Dave's heart clench painfully. He was about to rush forward and scoop Klaus up in his arms when the other man made a wounded sound as he looked up at Dave. Instead, he settled for tentatively holding Klaus' shoulder. 

Getting Klaus to his feet was tricky, especially while holding the garbage bag of his belongings. Dave could see the bruising spreading from underneath the bandage wound around Klaus' head. Blood had soaked through, staining the white fabric. According to Leroy, Klaus had refused the hospital or any form of medical intervention. From Dave's social work, he knew there were a number of reasons the men he worked with refused hospitals, even more for those who had experienced war, and none of them pleasant.

Once he got Klaus out of the cramped office, Leroy took Klaus' other arm, helping negotiate Klaus' gangly limbs out to the front where they could catch a cab. By the time they reached the footpath, Klaus was barely conscious.

"I'm sorry man," Leroy said, holding Klaus up on one side while they waited for a car to pull up. "I can't do anything about him losing the bed."

"What happened?" Dave asked, shifting his grip around Klaus' bony hips after holding his back resulted in an annoyed groan.

"I have no idea," Leroy said, shaking his head. "Although, the guy he hit deserved it. I've been trying to catch him selling drugs outta the place for a while now, and there was a nasty incident with this kid a couple of months back that I never got to the bottom of. Finally, I've got something I can pin on him."

"What, did he hit Klaus?" Dave asked with a growl. "I thought you said Klaus turned up like this?" He looked back in the building, feeling a sudden urge to go back and look for this guy. 

"He did," Leroy said cunningly. "But what's to say I didn't see Tanna take a swing too? Poor Klaus has enough bruises to be proof that fool hit him first."

Dave always knew Leroy to be a fair and just man, so if he was willing to lie to get this guy kicked out, he must have been bad news. He'd heard the name Tanna before, usually from Nina accompanied by a scowl. He would have to find out later what happened, but now he had bigger priorities. 

Leroy easily lifted Klaus' almost dead weight into the back seat of the cab, letting Dave shuffle in the other side. He lifted Klaus' head on to his lap, absently stroking a hand through his damp hair. His eyes were just opened, the startling green barely seen through the narrow gap between his long eyelashes. It was one of the first things that drew Dave in when he first met Klaus. 

It didn't take long to get to the address Dave gave the driver. He roused Klaus gently, not sure if he could wrangle the unconcious man out of the cab as easily as Leroy had. Klaus blinked blearily up at him, not really having fallen asleep but not fully awake either. 

"C'mon, we're here," Dave said gently. 

Thankfully, Klaus was coherent enough to help Dave get himself out of the back of the car. The downside was that he also realised that they weren't at Dave's apartment. 

"W're are we?" he slurred, eyeing the bars over the door and windows of the building. 

"It's a doctor's clinic-"

"No hospital," Klaus said, turning back to the cab. Dave caught him and redirected him to the door. It wasn't the most inviting building, covered in scrawling graffiti and in a considerably rougher side of town, but Dr. Lopez was a good doctor. 

"It's not a hospital. Dr. Lopez is a good doctor. She doesn't ask questions you don't want to answer."

At the last point, Klaus stopped struggling and resigned to let himself be led to the door, leaning into Dave's chest while he rang the buzzer. 

Unsurprisingly for a Sunday morning, the small waiting room was busy. 

"Er, hi, does the Doctor have any time this morning?" Dave asked the receptionist, his arm wrapped firmly around Klaus. He barely recognised the receptionist by sight, but he knew her voice from all the times he rang to arrange appointments for guys who came to him for help. 

The shockingly red-headed woman looked Klaus up and down before looking around the waiting room. 

"Yeah, might be a bit of a wait. What name?"

Dave felt Klaus bristle against him. 

"Just put it under mine. Dave Katz."

Klaus relaxed slightly. The receptionist paused, then looked up at him with a smile. 

"Oh, Dave, sorry, I didn't recognise you."

"Of course, we're usually just speaking on the phone," Dave chuckled lightly in reply. She ran her finger down the book in front of her, filled with pencil scrawl. 

"Look, there's an urgent one next, but I should be able to get him in after that."

"Thanks so much Betty," Dave said warmly, guiding Klaus over to a free seat next to a nervous looking teenage girl. There was also a skinny pale boy with a bucket strategically positioned between his knees, a guy who looked around Dave and Klaus' age with a black eye and a pair of women subtly holding each other's hands. 

The girl went in next, leaving Klaus to lean against Dave's shoulder. At one point Klaus pushed himself up to his feet, looking desperately around the waiting room. 

"What, what do you need?" Dave asked, hovering next to him in a panic.

"Bathroom's that way," Betty said pointing to a door next to her desk. Dave thanked her with a nod, rushing Klaus through the door just in time for him to bend over the bowl in a series of hacking coughs. He didn't actually throw up, but stayed bent over the bowl while Dave rubbed his arms. He'd flinched when Dave had touched his back, which made the man worry for what the doctor would find. 

Betty appeared at the open doorway to hand Dave a wet cloth which he used to clean the spit from Klaus' mouth. She held out a bucket for Dave to drop the cloth into, then returned back out to the front. Dave stroked Klaus' hair, which had dried in a matter mess, back behind his ears. He lifted him back onto his feet, guiding him out to the waiting room again. 

They didn't have to wait much longer before the door opened to Dr. Lopez's office. She was a petite woman with a feisty personality which was useful in her line of work patching up the people society didn't want in view. 

The doctor looked around the waiting room as means of triage, her eyes settling on Klaus who was curled into Dave's side. 

"Katz," she called out, beckoning them forward. 

Dave heaved Klaus up onto his feet and into the room, helping him to sit on the low bed pushed up against the wall. Dr. Lopez was digging through her desk drawers, dressed simply in a pair of navy slacks and a pale blue shirt with the sleeves rolled neatly to her elbows. She turned to Klaus, looking him over with a steady eye. 

“So what brings you here today?” she asked Klaus. To others, the answer may have seemed obvious, but this is where Dr. Lopez was good at her job. She never made assumptions, never made the first move. 

“He did,” Klaus muttered, pointing to Dave. Dr. Lopez scoffed, shaking her head, very used to reluctant patients.

“Well, now that you’re here, is there anything you would like me to look at?”

When Klaus closed his eyes instead of responding, Dave decided to jump in. 

“His head. He’s had a bad hit and it’s still bleeding, and before he was sick in the bathroom.”

“Was not,” Klaus protested, squinting at Dave. 

“Well, he didn’t actually vomit anything up, but he was still sick,” Dave tattled to the doctor. She nodded, picking up a small torch from the trolley next to the bed. She kicked a step stool towards the bed and used it to stand on to reach Klaus’ head. She peered into each of his eyes with the torch, then slipped it in her shirt pocket while she peeled away the sticky bandage around his head. 

“What were you hit with?” the doctor asked, peering over her shoulder at Dave. He shrugged. That was a story he was yet to get out of Klaus.

“I dunno,” Klaus mumbled. 

“C’mon Klaus,” Dave sighed, moving forward to take Klaus’ bruised hand in his own.

“I don’t!” he protested. “I dunno, maybe a boot or something.”

“So you were kicked?” Dr. Lopez confirmed. Klaus shrugged in response, giving a small nod. 

Dave gripped Klaus’ hand tighter. Who kicked him? To kick Klaus in the head, he would have had to already be on the ground . . . the thought made Dave’s stomach turn. 

After some more poking and prodding and wincing and hissing from Klaus, the doctor declared that he wouldn’t need stitches, but the wound needed a good clean and a better dressing. 

“I can do those hands as well if you like?” Dr. Lopez added, motioning towards Klaus’ bruised and scraped knuckles. Klaus nodded.

“We’re just going to check a few more things as well,” Dr. Lopez said, moving back to give Klaus space. She then instructed Klaus to do a whole lot of things that Dave had seen cops do to test for intoxication - touching his nose, walking in a straight line, standing on one leg, naming the day and date. Dave wanted to tell her that Klaus wasn’t under the influence, but when Klaus told the doctor it was a Monday when in fact it was Sunday and told her he was born in 1989, Dave started to worry. 

The doctor scratched something out on her notepad, dropping it onto the trolley before addressing Klaus again. 

“It also looks like you have a pretty decent concussion. Do you know what that is?”

Klaus nodded, not making eye contact with the doctor. 

Turning to Dave, the doctor continued. “He’ll need plenty of rest, but don’t let him sleep more than an hour at a time. You’ll have to wake him up each hour and check that he isn’t getting worse. If he does, go straight to ED, no matter what this one says.”

“What do you mean get worse?” Dave asked, wanting to make sure he knew what to look for. He had heard of a concussion before back home when Mr. Palmer turned his tractor over on his farm and hit his head, but he didn’t really know what it was. 

“He’s struggling with his memory - while he knows where he is and why, he doesn’t know when. While that is a normal symptom of a concussion, I wouldn’t want it getting worse. He might also continue to be nauseous, but again, I wouldn’t want that getting worse. You might also notice some out-of-character behaviour, you know, grouchiness, irritation, being more cranky than usual.”

Dave nodded. That would definitely explain some of Klaus’ behaviour that morning, although finding out what happened to get him in this state would explain the rest of it. 

“He’ll probably have a significant head ache too. Keep the room dim and noise to a minimum and make sure he keeps his fluids up. An icepack wouldn’t go astray on those bruises either.”

Dave nodded, grateful for the fact he remembered to buy frozen peas last week. 

“Now Klaus,” the doctor said in a low, firm voice, “ . . did I happen to notice that you were favouring your back during some of those tests?”

Klaus groaned, slumping on the edge of the bed. For such a tiny woman dealing with such a tall patient, she could sure be intimidating. He turned around, half sitting off the bed. Dave moved a hand to his hip to steady him while the doctor stepped back up on the stool and lifted the back of his bloody t-shirt.

Dave took in a breath as he saw Klaus’ long back. There was the start of a nasty red bruise forming, stretching from his left hip up to the first few ribs. The doctor pressed her fingers into different spots on Klaus’ back, releasing them as he hissed or groaned.

“His ribs are stable, which is good, but there’s not much else that can be done about it. I can write a script for some strong painkillers -”

“No!” Klaus burst out, turning around too quickly and almost toppling off the bed. “No, no painkillers,” he repeated, firmly. 

The doctor nodded knowingly, putting away the prescription pad. It didn’t make sense to Dave, Klaus was obviously in pain - why would he not want painkillers? After the incident when Nina brought Klaus high as a kite to his apartment, he’d thought that maybe there was a chance that Klaus _was_ into drugs, but then to react like that when the doctor offered him pain medication that he clearly needed - it didn’t make sense to Dave. 

The doctor finished her examination by cleaning and wrapping the cut on Klaus’ head and the mangled skin on his knuckles. 

“Take it easy for the next few days,” Dr. Lopez instructed as Klaus hopped off the bed, looking at Dave with eager eyes to get out of the doctor’s office. 

“Thanks,” Klaus said, finally making eye contact with the doctor. 

“You’re more than welcome,” she replied.

Dave paid the menial fee to Betty, shushing Klaus with his promises to pay him back. The clinic was free to those that needed it, but Dave knew that any money he paid meant that someone else who couldn’t might get a service they couldn’t otherwise afford. 

As soon as they stepped outside, he sighed.

“I forgot I had to ask Betty something, will you be okay out here?” Dave asked. Klaus nodded. He looked a lot more coherent than he had earlier, but he could see that the poor guy was exhausted. He sat Klaus on the bench out the front at the bus stop and rushed back into the clinic.

He felt bad lying to Klaus, but it was just a small lie and one to help Klaus anyway.

Betty looked surprised to see him back. 

“Um, Betty, the doctor suggested a script for some pain killers, and Klaus didn’t think he’d need them, but I think it might be best to grab that script just in case.”

Dave sipped his tea, staring out his kitchen window at the busy street below. Klaus was sleeping in his bed. It was coming up to an hour - Dave had been checking the clock above the fridge every ten minutes ready to wake Klaus up and check on him. It seemed cruel, but he didn’t want any harm to come to Klaus, well, any more harm.

He’d been too exhausted to hold up a conversation in the taxi, so Dave gave up on trying to find out what had happened, resigning himself to the fact he was going to have to wait. It was a Sunday, meaning that Klaus had been working the night before. Maybe there was a drunk patron at the club and he’d been caught in the middle, or maybe he was jumped when he was walking home. If that was the case, Dave would definitely not be letting him walk home alone again, he’d pay for the cabs himself or even meet him and walk him home himself. 

The sound of the phone ringing startled Dave into spilling his tea over his hand. Luckily, it wasn’t burning hot, but it still dripped onto the floor and created a mess that he would have to clean later. He put his mug down and spun around to lift the receiver from the wall. 

“Hello?”

“Finally! I’ve been calling all morning. Where have you been?” 

Dave pulled out the orange vinyl stool tucked under the other side of the kitchen bench and sat down. Nina sounded really worked up. 

“Have you seen Klaus?” she demanded.

“Yeah, he’s actually here.” 

He heard her sigh in deep relief. “Thank God. I tried to call at Y to check up on him and he wasn’t there, then you weren’t picking up - I knew I shouldn’t have let him just go home. I should’ve made that boy go straight to the hospital -”

“Hang on, you were with him last night? You know what happened?” Dave interrupted. 

“Hasn’t he told you yet?” Nina gasped.

“Well, he’s been a bit out of it. We went to the doctor and she said he had a concussion.”

“You got him to the doctor?” Nina asked, sounding impressed. “Is he okay?”

“Well, I don’t know. He’s sleeping right now. I have to go wake him up soon.”

“So he’s staying with you then?” Nina asked, sounding both relieved and intrigued.

“Well, it’s not like he has anywhere else right now.”

Nina groaned.

“What happened?” 

“He hit some guy this morning, and for the YMCA, that’s an instant eviction.”

“Fuck! Who did he hit?”

“Leroy mentioned a guy called Tanna. He works with you, doesn’t he?”

Nina swore loudly, turning away from the phone, then taking a deep breath.

“That motherfucking . . . I’m going to kill him. He must have had something to do with it.”

“Sounds like you might need to get in line.” Dave thought he might actually take a spot in that line himself. “So, your turn - what happened last night?”

“So Klaus is taking the rubbish out, minding his own business when these guys must have jumped him, thinking he was offering things he most definitely wasn’t offering.”

“You mean, drugs?”

“No, no, no, I mean like _favours - tricks_.”

“Oh.” Dave was glad Nina couldn’t see his face flush red. 

“It must have turned nasty when Klaus told them to get stuffed, because I hear this noise and it sounds like Klaus, so I go out the side door and this guy who was in the bar earlier is kicking him. Klaus took care of the other one though, because his buddy is on the ground hollering. I grab the metal pole we use to pull down the awning and started screaming for security and I whack the bejeezus out of that man until Chuck comes out and takes him down.” 

Nina takes a deep breath and after, her voice shakes.

“I thought he was dead, Dave.”

Dave rubs his hand over his face. He’s trying not to picture Klaus scared and outnumbered in that alleyway, but all he can see is Klaus’ battered body on the ground, hear him yelling for help. . . 

“So where does Tanna fit into this?”

“Well, we couldn’t figure out why these guys were so sure that Klaus was up for that sort of thing, but maybe Klaus worked it out first. Those guys were in the bar earlier, so Tanna must have told them Klaus was a hooker and tipped them off when he went outside.”

Nina used some choice words to let Dave know what she thought about Tanna. 

He was inclined to agree with all of them.

“But I don’t get it - why would he do that to Klaus?” Dave asked. 

“Because the asshole has been jealous of Klaus since he met him. Before, Tanna was the only twink in the place, and I’m not saying that Klaus is a twink, but those guys that used to look at Tanna are now looking at Klaus, although they’re wasting their time. Anyone can see that the only guy that boy is looking at is you.”

A warm feeling lit up in Dave’s chest at Nina’s words. He’d been feeling sick all morning with questions about this side of Klaus that he’d not seen yet, but Nina had just reminded him of the one thing he was sure about and didn’t need to question - Klaus liked him and he liked Klaus, maybe even more than liked. 

“I better go wake him up,” Dave said, glancing at the clock. “Thanks for calling me.”

“No problems. You take care of him, yeah? I’ll come by tomorrow to see how he’s going if that’s okay?”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Dave replied. 

After saying their goodbyes, Dave replaced the receiver and slipped off the stool. He grabbed the bag of peas out of the freezer and a dish cloth. 

Klaus was fast asleep on his side in the exact position Dave had left him. He moved around so that Klaus would be able to see his face when he woke and wouldn’t be startled. The bruising had really started to come out around his eye and cheekbone, dark blotches stretching out his skin.

“Hey, Klaus,” Dave said softly, gently rocking Klaus’ knobly shoulder. He squinted, but didn’t wake. Dave leaned in closer. 

“C’mon sleepy-head, you have to wake up.”

The soft groan Klaus let out made Dave’s heart melt. He rolled over, away from the edge of the bed only to aggravate his back and curl up with a hiss. Dave quickly scooped Klaus into a sitting position so he wasn’t on his back, letting Klaus sleepily nuzzle into his chest. He was awake, but he still hadn’t opened his eyes. 

“How are you feeling?” Dave asked quietly, adjusting Klaus so that he could comfortably curl up on his lap.

“Urg,” Klaus moaned, rubbing at his swollen eye with his bandaged hand. Dave gently took his hand away, softly pushing his hair back so it wouldn’t irritate his eye. 

“Do you know where you are?”

“W’ you,” Klaus muttered. Dave chuckled.

“And where are we?” 

Klaus opened his eyes finally, squinting even though Dave had the curtains drawn. 

“Y’r place?” Klaus tried, turning back to bury his face in Dave’s chest. 

“Yep. Now, I know you aren’t going to like this, but we need to get some ice on that eye for a bit while you’re awake, then you can have another sleep for a bit.”

Klaus hummed. He touched his lips with his bandaged fingers. Dave noticed they were dry and chapped. 

“I’ll grab you some water, yeah?” 

Klaus nodded slowly. Dave set him up, propped up in a sitting position on the pillows, peas wrapped in the cloth and positioned over Klaus’ eye with his hand holding them in place. 

Dave fetched the water and returned, helping Klaus drink. Then he sat on the bed, holding his arm around Klaus while he leaned in, pressing the peas against his face. After a short while Klaus fell asleep again. Dave settled him back on his side and took the make shift ice pack back to the kitchen. 

He opened the freezer and put the peas back in. Then he opened the fridge and took the osso bucco he had bought the day before out and popped that in there too. He could cook that for Klaus another time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww, Dave was meant to cook Klaus dinner!
> 
> Next up, Nina comes over and Dave and Klaus get to spend some time together.
> 
> (but warning, a little bit more upheaval on the horizon after that)


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave and Klaus mush with a splash of Nina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings at end

Klaus dragged his feet out of the bedroom, rubbing his eye. He’d already realised that touching the other side of his face was not a good idea. The skin felt tight and shiny there and throbbed with the same beat as the headache that had pounced on him as soon as he woke up. From the glow of the light through the apartment, it seemed to be morning but what time or day, he couldn’t tell.

Stretched out on the couch was Dave, dressed in an old t-shirt and some daggy boxers. He was tangled up in a blanket, his mouth open and snoring lightly. Klaus smiled, watching him sleep for a moment before heading into the kitchen. 

He found the glasses and poured himself some water. The day before was a blur of images in Klaus’ mind, some nice like Dave’s warm arms around him and soothing, home-made pumpkin soup. Some of the other images weren’t as nice and it was one of those images that had woken Klaus with a start only a few minutes earlier.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Dave asked from the living room, blinking awake as he struggled to untangle himself from the blanket and sit up on the couch. Klaus plonked himself in the gap between Dave’s legs. 

“Heaps better, thanks to you,” said Klaus with a smile. 

“Glad to hear,” Dave said, arranging the blanket so it was over Klaus’ lap too. The apartment was still chilled from the cool morning. 

“Are you okay?” Dave asked, running his hand over Klaus’ arm. 

“Yeah,” he said, gingerly touching his face. “Nurse Dave did a great job.”

Dave looked up at Klaus with his big blue eyes that could trap his attention for hours.

“I mean, like, with what happened. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, fine, like nothing really happened,” Klaus said flippantly. “The guy hit me and that was about it. I don’t remember much else.”

It was like a habit - the lying. It happened so automatically that Klaus didn’t even think about doing it before the words were out of his mouth. It wasn’t a big lie, really, just leaving out the details that might upset Dave. 

“Okay,” Dave said, not sounding as relieved as Klaus had hoped. “If you want to talk about it though, I’m here.”

“Thanks Dave,” Klaus said, smiling back. He snuggled into Dave’s still sleep-warmed body, tucking his head under Dave’s chin.

“How’s the noggin feeling today?” Dave asked. 

“Yeah, been better.”

“Can you tell me what day it is?”

Klaus chuckled. “I’m guessing like Sunday?”

“It’s Monday,” Dave said patiently. 

“You’ve asked me this question a lot, haven’t you?”

Dave nodded, nudging Klaus’ head. “To be fair, you were pretty out of it yesterday so I’m not surprised you don’t remember it. You sound a lot better today.”

“But if it’s Monday, why aren’t you at work?”

“I’ve taken the week off -”

“Oh Dave, no, you don’t need to!” Klaus protested, squirming around in Dave’s arms until he was facing him. “I’m fine, really.”

“But I want to,” Dave responded, pressing a kiss to Klaus’ cheek. He melted back down into Dave’s chest. 

“Well, thank you,” Klaus said, listening to the steady rhythm of Dave’s heart against his ear. 

“You were saying some pretty funny things yesterday,” Dave said, running his fingers through Klaus’ hair. His heart stopped, suddenly worried about what came out of his concussion-ridden brain. 

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

“Something about chocolate pudding?” Dave said quizzically. Klaus laughed out loud. 

“Oh, you probably don’t want to know about that! Or maybe you would?” he teased, his fingers playing with the hem of Dave’s sleeve. 

“I dunno, it wasn’t making a lot of sense,” Dave said with a laugh. “You thought you were born in 1989 as well, and you kept talking about ghosts or something and some guy called Ben.”

Klaus forced out a laugh. “Oh geez, I must have been really out of it,” he said, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

“Yeah, it was a little scary actually.”

The buzzer went off, making both Dave and Klaus jump. Dave extracted himself from under Klaus and looked out the window, then up at the clock. 

“Shit, I forgot Nina was coming,” Dave said in a panic, looking down at his boxers. Klaus laughed. 

“You go get changed, I’ll let her in.”

“But you’re not dressed either!” Dave exclaimed. 

“But Davey, unlike those brown-check monstrosities, I _rock_ these,” Klaus said, parading around in his baggy red tartan pyjama pants that Dave must have put him in the day before. 

Dave seemed to agree, because he locked himself in the bedroom and left Klaus to answer the door. 

There was a sharp knock. Klaus unlocked the key, opening the door to be hit with the strong warming smell of tomato and garlic.

Nina was standing there, holding two pizza boxes and a plastic bag packed full of old ice cream containers and margarine tubs that just had to come from Maria. 

“Klaus!” Nina shouted, rushing into the apartment to dump the food on the bench. She turned to him, looking him up and down carefully before settling on giving him a soft punch in the arm. 

“You look _a lot_ better,” she said approvingly, prodding at his swollen cheek. “That looks shit though.”

“Yeah, I haven’t actually looked at it yet,” Klaus said, wincing. “I used to work an amazing smudged eyeliner, can’t look that different?”

“Hmmm, the colour works for you but the puffiness and that ugly arse bandage kinda ruins the look.”

Klaus stuck his tongue out.

“So I’ve seen you’ve been past Maria’s?” he asked, looking at the array of food over the bench.

“Yeah, she heard over the grapevine about what happened. Apparently she was pretty angry at Mario that you got hurt at work, so Joe said to let you know you have the whole week off.”

Klaus laughed, remembering the walloping he got from Maria the first night he spent in New York. 

“Where’s Dave?” Nina asked, looking around the apartment.

“He’s just getting dressed,” Klaus said, nodding towards the bedroom. Nina raised her eyebrows. 

“Oh, don’t tell me I’ve _interrupted_ something?” she asked scandalously. Klaus barked out a laugh.

“No, he just didn’t want you to see him in his hideous boxers.” 

“I was going to say - he should be keeping his mitts off you while you’re still injured.” She spotted the blankets and pillows on the couch. “Oh, bless his heart, he’s sleeping out here? What a gentleman.”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t object if he decided _not_ to be such a gentleman,” Klaus said in a low voice, flashing Nina a wink. She giggled, then set her hand on Klaus’ shoulder. 

“I think he’s just trying to give you a little space, after what happened, you know?”

Klaus sighed. “I’m fine though.”

“You didn’t look fine. You freaked Joe out big time. He’s not letting anyone take bins out on their own anymore.”

Klaus sat down on one of the stools, sinking his elbows onto the bench. 

“I ran into Tanna last night,” Nina said, eyeing Klaus carefully. 

“Oh yeah.”

“He had two black eyes and a broken nose.” She looked at Klaus with a smirk. “I heard a little rumor that you might have had something to do with that.”

Klaus shrugged nonchalantly. “Might’ve done.”

Nina gave him another light punch in the arm, taking much more care than she normally would.

“Not as much as he deserved, but still, nice work. He’s a grade A asshole.”

“Still lost my room though,” Klaus muttered. 

“Hey, looks like things didn’t work out too bad in that department,” Nina said with a wink, looking around Dave’s apartment. 

Dave threw the bedroom door open, wearing a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt which just _did_ things to Klaus. 

“Look who decided to show up,” Nina teased. Dave rolled his eyes, tucking in his t-shirt. 

“Sorry, I overslept.”

“Just as well your favourite gal brought lunch!”

Nina stayed for lunch, sharing the amazing spread of pizza and home cooked dishes. Klaus had spotted the container with Maria’s lasagna in it and was scooping a large serving out onto his plate. 

“Hey hey hey, don’t think I can’t see you stealing all that Slim,” Nina said, pulling Klaus’ fork from his hand. Klaus laughed, picking at a string of cheese that stretched from the container to his plate. 

“It so gwud,” Klaus protested, his mouth full of lasagna. 

“Hey, take it easy,” Dave said, taking another slice of pizza. “You’ve barely eaten anything for the last couple of days, you’ll make yourself sick.” 

Klaus stuck his tongue out, then promptly choked on the food stuffed in his mouth. 

Nina slapped him on the back, which made Klaus wince but was enough to dislodge the food stuck in his throat. 

“Sorry man,” Nina said, scrunching up her nose. 

Klaus waved her off, taking a sip of his water.

Apart from the smashing headache and the pain in his back, Klaus was actually feeling pretty good. This was the sort of life that he and Dave could have in the future, sitting around in their apartment, sharing a meal with their friends, living in domestic bliss. 

Klaus stepped out of the bath and wrapped the towel around his waist just as Dave knocked on the door.

“Are you ready for me to come in?” he asked. 

“Dave, for you I’m always ready,” Klaus flirted back. Dave’s face was thoroughly flushed red when he opened the door. He brought in a small stool and a cushion which he placed next to the bath. It had been Dave’s idea to help Klaus wash his hair. The doctor had warned about not disturbing the clot that was blocking the blood from spilling out of the gash in Klaus’ head, so Dave suggested that Klaus take a bath, then after he would help wash his hair. Klaus took a seat on the stool, letting Dave awkwardly adjust the cushion so Klaus’ back didn’t have to touch the hard edge of the bath while he leaned his head backwards.

Carefully, Dave unwrapped the bandage from around Klaus’ head. The movement stung.

“Sorry,” Dave said, leaning over to turn on the taps. He still smelt the same after all these years, although without the acrid smell that went with not showering for weeks on end. 

“No, thanks for doing this.” 

While Nina did a good job at getting the blood out of his long hair, it was now a matted mess. Long hair needed a lot more care than the short cut he kept while he was on the streets.

Dave was so gentle pouring the water over Klaus’ head that he let out a low moan.

“Are you okay?” Dave asked in concern. 

“Don’t stop, that feels _amazing_.” 

Klaus smiled as Dave cleared his throat. He could just imagine how the tops of his ears would be tinged pink. 

Dave spread the shampoo through Klaus’ hair, his strong fingers massaging his scalp gently enough to not disturb the bruising. 

“So, _are_ you okay?”

“I’m fine Davey, especially with you taking such good care of me,” he grinned back, his eyes still closed. Dave hummed in response, letting the complement slide by unnoticed. 

“Nina told me what those guys tried to do to you.” 

Klaus noticed that Dave’s fingers were pressing a bit harder into this head. 

“It’s fine Dave, nothing happened -”

“Yeah, you said, but still, it’s awful and scary and it’s okay if you want to talk about it.”

Klaus definitely did _not_ want to talk about it. He didn’t want to acknowledge the weird feeling in his gut that he got when memories of Saturday night crept into his mind, latching onto old memories of similar situations scattered through his past and pulling them to the forefront. Memories that he had blown off at the time as not a big deal and just part-and-parcel of his hedonistic lifestyle of drugs and partying. Memories that he had been able to push away when they came to him just before sleep that were now injected with renewed unease. 

After living with those times when guys hadn’t taken no for an answer or women had taken advantage of the fact he was so out of his mind he’d say yes to anything, how come now he felt sick just thinking about it? After all this time?

He was definitely not talking to Dave about any of that part of his past. No, he was New Klaus. New Klaus was having a fresh start. 

“Thanks Dave, but I really don’t remember much . . . ” On hearing Dave’s disappointed sigh, Klaus added, “. . . but if I do, you’re the first person I’ll come to.”

Dave kissed his cheek, his lips warm against Klaus’ cool skin. 

“I’m here for you Klaus,” he said with a tenderness that made Klaus’ chest feel like liquid. 

Over the next week, Klaus stayed at Dave’s, occupying his bed while Dave chivalrously took the couch, despite Klaus’ insistence on swapping, or even his more favoured option that he tried, of telling Dave there was that enough space in the bed for both of them. 

Dave had politely declined, claiming to not want to aggravate Klaus’ injuries. Klaus may have pouted but he couldn’t deny the sweetness of his gesture. However, sweetness didn’t sate the need he felt when he caught glimpses of Dave towelling himself off after a shower or walking through the kitchen in the morning with his sleep-mussed hair in the morning. 

That didn’t mean that their relationship was on hold though. Dave took him out for a walk on the Wednesday to feed the ducks at Central Park which Klaus thoroughly enjoyed, followed by a milkshake and then a walk back to the apartment which ended in a very heated make-out session on the couch. Klaus’ hands toyed with the waistband of Dave’s jeans, willing him to give Klaus the go-ahead to finally take this further, but every time he thought he was close, the blonde man frustratingly moved Klaus’ hands back to safer territory. 

When the same thing happened again the next morning (after Klaus tried _again_ while watching TV Wednesday night), he decided to try another tactic. 

He’d already wriggled his way onto Dave’s lap where he’d been kissing his boyfriend enthusiastically since two ad breaks ago. Instead of trying to get Dave’s clothes off again, he instead started unbuttoning his own shirt. In the last timeline, they would usually be racing each other to see who could get the other one naked first, although they were usually under time constraints. Maybe if Klaus went first Dave wouldn’t be as shy?

Just as Klaus almost had his shirt off, Dave’s hands clasped his wrists. 

“Klaus -”

“Shhhh,” Klaus purred into his ear, “just let me . . .”

Dave sat up straighter under Klaus, gently lifting him off his lap and onto the couch. It was the kindest rejection that he’d ever had, and yet, it was probably one of the most painful. 

“Klaus,” he said in a low husky voice that had usually meant that Dave was so far gone that even the lightest nuzzle against his neck would draw a moan from him but now he was pushing Klaus away and it didn’t make any sense and . . .

“Hey, you with me?” Dave asked, tilting Klaus’ chin upwards. Klaus nodded, not looking at him. 

“Please, Sunshine, it’s not that I don’t want to . . . it’s not that at all. Trust me. ”

A warmth swelled through Klaus’ belly at his words. 

Dave called him _Sunshine_. Just like Vietnam Dave did. 

“It’s just that you’ve been through a lot over the last few days, the last few weeks actually, and now you’re here, which you’re more than welcome to, of course, I love having you here, but the last thing I want is for you to feel pressured - to feel like to owe me or something . . .”

“But I want to, Dave! I don’t feel pressured, I swear!”

“Just give it some time,” Dave said, pressing a kiss to Klaus’ uninjured cheek.

Klaus rolled his eyes at his boyfriend, glaring up at him playfully through his lashes. 

“Don’t look at me like that,” Dave teased in a low growl, snatching Klaus up and throwing him back onto the couch in what looked like a rough move but was actually incredibly gentle before straddling him, his fingers finding all the places that made Klaus giggle uncontrollably.

“Uncle! Uncle!” Klaus shouted as Dave tickled him relentlessly. 

He could be patient. He could wait. 

For a bit. 

A week after that, Dave came home from work with a big grin on his face that he was struggling to hide. 

“So, I have a surprise. Only if you’re up to it, there’s no pressure, but when Robin said he could get them from his brother in-law, it was too good an opportunity . . .”

Klaus grabbed Dave by his biceps, aiming to stop him rambling but instead getting very distracted by the hard muscle under those sleeves . . .

“Er. . .Klaus?”

“Oh yeah, I was going to say to stop babbling on and spit it out!”

Dave smiled and pulled two red tickets out from his back pocket. 

“I’ve got tickets to The Doors tonight, that is, if you would like to go, but it’s okay if you don’t . . . “

_Let me sleep all night in your soul kitchen . . ._

The beaded curtain tinkles softly in the drafty warm air. 

_Warm my mind near your gentle stove . . ._

He leans in, Dave’s lips catching on his own. 

Klaus blinks back the tears tickling his eyes, again catching Dave’s lips the way he had all that time ago. He hugged his arms tightly around him and rested his chin on Dave’s shoulder. 

“I would love to, Dave.”

Considering that Dave had apparently only gotten the tickets that day, he’d managed to book them a table at a cute little bar before the show where they snacked on chicken skewers the bar staff were sourcing from the street stall out the front and sipped cocktails, giddy with excitement for the show. Klaus had worn his best outfit, his skin-tight psychedelic pants and the black top with the open back he’d been wearing the day he landed, accessorised with some long wooden-beaded necklaces he’d picked up from a girl selling jewelry outside the subway station. Dave was wearing a close fitting mustard shirt and a pair of jeans that made Klaus want to stick his hands in the pockets.

Not long after the doors had opened to the concert venue, Klaus and Dave teetered out of the bar, giggling like school kids, to walk the few blocks to the show. Klaus hadn’t had that much to drink (by his standards) but he was feeling positively drunk in the best kind of way. Either Dave was a lightweight, or he felt the same way, looping his arm through Klaus’. 

The concert was the psychedelic mess that Klaus had hoped it would be. Jim Morrison was at least able to stick with the general lyrics of the song, but it was clear that this was a band with no set list and no cares and Klaus loved it. The venue was packed beyond capacity that would be allowed in 2019, creating a sticky, sweaty mob despite the cool night temperature outside. He rocked gently in Dave’s arms during Riders On the Storm, danced around like Luther at a rave to Light My Fire and kissed Dave sweetly during Soul Kitchen. Dave sang along to all the songs, his deep, mellow voice only just audible over the howling guitars. 

Swept up in the surge of people packing the streets at the end of the concert, Dave instead tugged Klaus into another little late-night bar where they stopped for another drink to let the crowd dissipate. Just as they finished their drinks (Klaus chose a Cosmo because it was New York and even if that wasn’t a thing yet, who wouldn’t want a hot pink drink?), a DJ jumped on the sound system, cranking the music up loud. Klaus dragged Dave onto the dancefloor, finding a spot in the crowd that had suddenly swelled through the bar as James Brown’s funky Get Up Offa That Thing spun on the vinyl decks. 

One song later and Klaus was ready to leave. Dave wasn’t the greatest dancer (and facing the facts neither was he), but there was something about the way that Dave’s sweaty hair was stuck to his forehead and his hips moved around in awkward movements that told Klaus it was time to go home _right now_.

Finding a spare fiver in the waistband of his pants, Klaus got them a cab home, wasting no time walking. He practically ran up the stairs, leaving Dave to chase him up the stairwell. Dave opened the door, reaching around Klaus who waited until the moment he heard the lock click to hook his hands behind Dave’s neck and pull the man into the apartment, kicking the door shut with his foot. 

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Dave asked, still puffed from his run up the stairs. 

“Dave, I’ve been sure about wanting to do this for _years_ ,” he said without a word of a lie.

That was the last assurance he seemed to need.

Dave’s mouth crashed into his own, the soft thud of the keys hitting the carpet freeing his hands to wrap around Klaus’ bare back. Klaus’ hands were just as eager, slipping under Dave’s shirt, only pulling apart long enough to tug it over his head as they backed into the bedroom. Soon Klaus’ shirt joined Dave’s on the floor along with the tangle of necklaces that sent them both into giggles as they struggled to wrestle them from his neck. 

Klaus unzipped Dave’s jeans, tugging them down in one swift move that left his face very close to where he wanted it to be. Just before he managed to get his mouth on Dave’s cock, he was hauled back to his feet by his armpits. 

“Nu-nu-nah,” Dave reprimanded, his thumbs dipping under the waistband of Klaus’ tight pants. “That’s not playing fair.”

He tried to get Klaus’ pants off, really his efforts were valiant, but instead they both crashed to the floor, Dave collapsed on top of a cackling Klaus. 

“Are they glued on?” said Dave in exasperation. 

Taking mercy on the poor man, Klaus lifted his hips and shimmied the pants off. 

“Much better,” Dave growled into his ear, slotting a bare leg between Klaus’. Klaus moaned, tipping his head right back and letting Dave pepper scratchy kisses down his neck.

“Should we move onto the bed?” Dave asked breathlessly. Klaus’ hands moved down his back and clamped over Dave’s arse, using his hold to lift his own hips upwards to meet him. Dave’s agonised howl told Klaus they weren’t going to make it off the floor. 

Klaus woke deliciously warm and extremely comfortable with just enough of an ache through his muscles and joints to tell him that he’d had a good night. He stretched his legs out, his heart skipping as he felt Dave’s tangled between his. 

“Morning Sunshine,” Dave said into Klaus’ shoulder, his voice husky with sleep. Klaus pressed back into Dave’s chest, turning to rub his cheek against his stubble. 

“Morning.”

“Are you okay?” Dave asked, voice suddenly full of concern. 

Klaus twisted in Dave’s arms until he was facing him, noses close enough to touch.

“Dave, is this still about the making sure I’m ready schtick, because if you still need proof of my willingness to have sex with you after last night, I don’t know what else I can do to convince you . . .” 

Klaus let his eyes trail down between the two of them, lifting the sheet to get a good look at Dave’s naked body.

“Or, actually, I could think of _something_ . . .”

“Okay, okay, I believe you!” Dave shouted, pulling Klaus’ attention back above the sheets. He chuckled, holding a hand over his eyes. 

“God, remind me to stretch next time,” he groaned. Klaus secretly agreed. While it had been wildly fun at the time, Dave’s floor was unforgiving on his knees and elbows and back, especially now he wasn’t as young as he used to be. 

“I’m going to grab a shower,” Dave said, rolling out of bed. Klaus whined, making grabby hands as he rolled away, although he did have a fabulous view. 

Dave turned around, arching an eyebrow.

“Care to join?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning - Klaus and Dave get it ooooooooon (nothing too graphic)
> 
> Next chapter - uh oh! Klaus' past catches up to him, in a way. Team Support Klaus are there, but will Klaus accept their help?
> 
> Also, I think I'm pretty kinda maybe sure that there are twelve chapters in total. Maybe.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A nice day out goes sour. 
> 
> Someone from Klaus' past comes back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW at end

“How was work?”

Klaus sighed, dropping his jacket on the bed. He’d been back at work for a week. His back was still twinging but most of the cuts and bruises had healed enough to allow him to get back into it. 

He’d seen Tanna at work a few times, although thankfully the other man was as keen to avoid Klaus as he was to avoid Tanna. He had to admit, it was satisfying to see the way that his nose was still swollen like a potato.

Klaus dropped on the bed, swinging one leg over the other. 

“It was alright - what are you doing?” 

Dave was bent over digging through the drawers he had just allocated for Klaus to put his things in. 

“How do you not have a single suitable piece of clothing?”

Klaus scrunched up his nose. “My clothes are plenty suitable,” he said sulkily. 

Dave laughed, turning around to press a quick kiss to Klaus’ knee. “Of course they are Sunshine. I meant clothes suitable for exercise.”

“ _Exercise?_ ” 

“Yeah,” Dave said shyly. “I thought maybe tomorrow we could get a train out to New Jersey and go for a hike?”

“A hike?”

Dave sat next to Klaus on the bed. “I just thought, it’s fine if it’s not your thing . . .”

Klaus grinned widely. “Are you going to be as bad at hiking as you were swimming?”

His joke drew a hearty laugh from Dave. “You reckon you’ll do better with these things,” he teased, squeezing Klaus’ thigh. 

Klaus threw himself back on the bed, stretching his legs above him.

“These babies will be taking one step for every two your tree trunks will take! You’ll be eating my dust!”

Dave jumped on top of Klaus, trapping him between his arms. 

“Well at least I’ll have a good view.”

And so, the next day Klaus was dressed in Dave’s gym shorts and tank top, knotted up at the back, hiking up a mountain in New Jersey. Dave had done the trail before, so he led the way with his backpack on his back giving Klaus a great view of Dave’s arse in his khaki hiking shorts. Klaus had followed that arse covered in khaki fabric through the jungle countless times before.

While he didn’t miss the sweat slipping into every crevice of his body, he had missed being outside in the lush green environment, the way the fresh air cooled in his throat and the familiar ache in his legs. He’d enjoyed the hikes in the jungle back in Vietnam - most of the time they were a chance to banter with his battalion and get to know Dave better. 

Then there were the times when they were creeping through the tropical plants, praying that their steps would not disturb the mines embedded in the soil, holding their breath in case the enemy heard them and responded with flashing guns. 

Dave led them to a beautiful spot at the top where they sat on a rock and watched the darkening clouds on the horizon, eating the pastrami sandwiches that were packed neatly in the backpack. Klaus sat between Dave’s legs, leaning back into his chest while they looked out at the stunning view. 

“This was a great idea,” Klaus said, looking up at Dave who arched forward to kiss him. 

“Glad you’re enjoying it,” he said sweetly. 

After a few more moments soaking up the view, Dave gave Klaus’ shoulder a squeeze. 

“We better get moving unless we want those clouds to catch us.”

And so they began their descent back down the mountain. It wasn’t as busy with most of the seasoned hikers deciding to get back to their cars before the rain started to fall. It turned out that they were right in doing so when the heavens opened just as they were half-way to the bus stop. 

Klaus laughed as the drenching rain soaked into their clothes, plastering their hair to their heads as they hurried along the dirt path that was turning to mud. The sound of the thunderclap in the distance made him jump, cutting off the jovial sound. The wet dirt smelt so similar, even though there was something different about it, something more acerbic. 

Dave called out something from up ahead. Klaus felt around behind his left hip, his hands not finding the familiar weight that should have been bouncing against his back. Shit, he must have put it down at their last rest break and forgotten it. Sarge would have his head when he found out. 

He jogged over the wet rocky path, his feet slipping and sliding on the slick red mud - _no, the mud was deep brown_ \- eyes tracking through the trees that were darker than the lush ones they usually passed in the jungle. They must be further north now. Sarge had said something about a new assignment. 

Klaus’ heart was pounding in his chest the way it always did when they were on missions like this. He hated how Dave always insisted on going first in line, always so fearful something would happen to him, but grateful for the ghosts that bothered to give him warnings when they were about to walk into danger. He stayed close enough behind Dave that he could pull him down by his pack if he had to, despite the fact he had a ridiculously small pack on. How was he meant to fit his equipment in there?

There was another loud bang reverberating through the sky, sounding closer this time. Klaus clamped his hands over his ears, dropping to his knees to take cover. The cold wet of the mud on his skin surprised him. Why wasn’t he wearing pants? Everyone knew the dangers of the leeches and infections that they brought. First his gun, and now he was wearing shorts?

His next instinct was to find Dave. He hadn’t heard the shelling, he was still walking ahead. Klaus called out to him, warned him to get down while he crawled towards him, dragging him to a safe position. He wrapped his arm over Dave’s head, trying to force the man to duck like they’d been trained to do, but Dave was resisting. 

“ _Klaus_ -”

Dave sounded scared. He must know something that Klaus didn’t, he probably heard the Sarge say something further up the line. His eyes ran along the bushes, searching the dark spaces for any movement.

He couldn’t let anything happen to Dave. The other man was saying something, something that Klaus couldn’t make out but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that if they were ambushed, then Dave needed to make it out alive. He tried to push the other man behind him, needing to shield his chest, but Dave was fighting him. 

_The bullet whistled through the air_

“Klaus -”

_Dave wasn’t moving_

He was shouting Klaus’ name.

_Blood bubbled from his chest. Klaus tried desperately to keep it in._

“Klaus!”

It was so hard to breathe. 

Klaus grabbed at his chest when a familiar hand wrapped around his, holding it like he was made of glass. Dave’s other hand found his cheek, stroking it just as gently. 

“You’re okay, you’re safe,” Dave said in a low voice, like he was trying to calm a startled animal. 

Why wouldn’t they be safe? Were the guys from the alley back?

But why would those guys be here on the hiking trail?

Or was he talking about the ambush? 

Why were they sitting here when they were about to be swarmed by enemy soldiers?

“Klaus, stay with me.”

Air was punching its way out of his lungs. A heavy, solid hand settled over his chest, the weight reassuring. 

He looked up at Dave, whose hair was too long and didn’t have the scar on his chin and was familiar but also not and . . .

The images of enemies hidden in shimmering bushes and blood pooling over rocks slipped through his fingers like a dream escaping.

He wasn’t in Vietnam. He wasn’t . . . oh God, he . . . 

Klaus let out a pained whimper as another reality started to make itself known. One where he wasn’t at war and was actually miles away, in a different year . . . one where he just lost his mind in front of Dave. 

It felt as if he was in an elevator that was free falling out of control, dropping the bottom of this stomach out. 

His clear green eyes looked around the heavily wooded area which looked nothing like the wild jungle of South East Asia. 

“Hey, hey, c’mon, deep breaths.”

Klaus let Dave handle him so that he was sitting with his knees bent, with his head ducked between. The hand that had been on his chest was now rubbing soothing circles on his back. 

He covered his face with his tattooed palms, hiding the tears that were forming in his eyes as he realised what a fool he’d made of himself. Shame wasn’t a familiar emotion for Klaus, usually able to shrug off his antics with a laugh, but not this time. 

“Can we get out of here?” he asked in a small voice, surprised at how much it shook.

“Of course,” Dave said kindly. He held Klaus’s biceps, pulling him slowly to his feet. Just as he felt the pull of Dave trying to draw him in, Klaus shrugged out of his grip. 

If Dave wrapped his arms around him, he would lose it completely. 

Instead, he started walking back down the path in the rain, feeling Dave hover close behind him. 

Dave cautiously tried to talk to Klaus as they descended down to the carpark, but after Klaus didn’t respond to his gentle words he settled for following Klaus’ flying pace down the path. By the time they approached the car park on the way to the bus stop, the rain had cleared and the tourists were back, keeping Dave’s hands from comforting Klaus. 

They waited at the bus stop, Klaus trying to control the shakes that wracked his body, very aware of Dave’s eyes watching him. He could tell the other man wanted to comfort him, to hold him and tell him everything was okay, but they weren’t in the Village anymore. The people milling around in their shiny synthetic activewear wouldn’t approve of two men holding each other and wouldn’t be afraid to let their opinions known. 

Still, Dave let his knee rest against Klaus’ as they sat side-by-side on the bus, the pressure just letting him know that he was there. 

After the bus ride that felt like it lasted for hours they swapped to the train that would finish their journey home. With standing room only, Dave took the opportunity to take a position directly behind him, reaching over his shoulder for the overhead handle to trap Klaus safely between his arms. 

Klaus was almost running from the train station back to Dave’s apartment. He needed to get a door between him and the world as soon as possible. His boyfriend, as insightful as ever, was thankfully giving him some space, but still trailing close behind him. 

Dave opened the door to the apartment wordlessly, letting an increasingly anxious Klaus through first. He had started to shake again, a fact he tried to hide by tucking his hands firmly under his armpits. He paced into the kitchen before turning back around and standing in the living area, looking at the bedroom door, then at the front door of the apartment. 

“What do you need?” Dave asked in a slow, soothing voice, positioning himself to make an escape out the front door much more difficult. 

“I don’t know,” Klaus croaked back. 

“Why don’t I run you a bath?” Dave asked, his kind blue eyes ducking to meet Klaus’.

Klaus nodded, letting Dave lead him into the bathroom. 

While Dave ran the bath, the water mixed with something that filled the room with the sweet smell of honey, Klaus huddled in the corner. He’d had his share of nightmares and bad trips, even a flashback or two to the war straight after he returned or the mausoleum, but none were like that, slipping so seamlessly into the waking nightmare. The flashback in Dallas had been the same, but Klaus had just put it down to being in a combat situation with guns - something he was hoping to avoid at all costs in future. 

The hiking trail though - he’d been having a great time with Dave. No guns, no soldiers, no fighting. If that could set him off, then it meant it could happen anywhere. 

Why was it happening now? Was he finally losing his mind? 

“Did you want me to stay?” 

Klaus’ head snapped up to see Dave drying his hands on a towel, steam curling up from the fluffy suds in the bath. He shook his head, not looking up to meet Dave’s eyes. 

“I’ll be just outside, just call out if you need,” he said, leaving Klaus alone. 

He managed to keep it together long enough to get undressed and lower himself into the bath. It was when he realised that Dave had set his own fluffy bath robe that Klaus loved to borrow draped on the side of the sink that the sobbing started. He sank under the water, letting the tears flow away as they came. 

He had slipped away from reality so seamlessly that he didn’t even notice, and that _terrified_ Klaus. Sure, he’d lost his grip on reality many times, usually on purpose and aided by acid or some other psychedelic, but as silly as it seemed, he was still in control. He _chose_ to block out the world for a while. Doing it without any consent on his part was scary. 

Who was to say what _was_ reality anymore anyway? Klaus had time travelled so many times now, weaving in and out of his own life and meddling so much that who was to say that this life was real? Maybe he would go back to 2019 to be dropped back into his own life, everything that had happened since just fading away as a dream?

Long after the water ran cold, Klaus crouched forward in the bath, wrapping his arms around his knees. He again wished his ghost brother was still with him. Ben would be telling him to talk about it, but he couldn’t. Not with Dave. He had to be _better_ for Dave, not the same disaster that he had been for most of his life.   
No, he had to pull himself together if he wanted a chance for whatever this reality was to work. 

He climbed out of the bath, drying himself off before wrapping himself in the soft robe. He used the towel to wrap his hair in a turban. 

Stretching the skin around his jaw in the mirror, Klaus decided that it was time to tidy up his facial hair again. He was pretty lucky that it mostly grew in the shape he liked to wear it, unlike poor Diego who had to fully shave every second day or he ended up with a full beard. Still, it could use some attention. 

Knowing that his cheap, single blade razor was blunt four uses ago, Klaus opened the mirrored cabinet above the sink to look for another one. 

Instead, he found a small orange canister filled with little white pills. A canister _with his name on it_.

He picked it up, turning it over in his fingers as he read the label.

They were painkillers, and strong ones. He didn’t remember ever buying painkillers, he would never - it would be too risky. 

He saw the date. Counting back, he realised it was the day after the thing in the alleyway at the Moonwalk. 

Dave must have snuck the prescription from that doctor and gotten it filled. 

He noticed the tremor in his fingers and wondered if the effect was still residual from his freak out earlier or if this was a new freak out. 

Practically throwing the container, he tossed it back in the cupboard and slammed the door closed, leaning over the sink to suck in a few deep breaths. 

He knew he could steady his trembling body by just opening that container. 

He wouldn’t need much, just enough to take the edge off . . .

“Hey Klaus, are you done?” 

Dave peeked around the door, eyes watching him earnestly. 

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah fine,” Klaus said brightly, standing up straight. “How are you doing?” He waggled his eyebrows, lifting the opening to the robe back suggestively. 

“Actually, I was hoping that we might be able to talk.”

Klaus sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. 

He wanted to say no, he wanted to deflect and make some excuse but this was Dave. 

“What did you want to talk about?” he asked. 

“Not here, maybe can go in the other room?”

Once they were sitting on the couch, Dave took Klaus’ hand in his. He tried not to groan at how much harder it was to keep Dave out of all this when he was being so sweet.

“Klaus, these last few months have been like something out of a story. I never knew I’d feel like this about someone. I feel so close to you, like I’ve never felt close to anyone ever before, and probably never will again.”

Klaus’ stomach flipped, fearing that this might be the start of Dave telling him he was too much work, too much effort. 

“The thing is, it seems like even though I feel so close, there’s this part of you that you’re hiding away. I know you’re a private person, but I was really hoping that you could talk to me about some of that, tell me what’s going on.”

“What do you mean?” Klaus asked, knowing full well what Dave meant. He could see his boyfriend resist rolling his eyes. 

“Like today Klaus. I mean, I can take a guess and say that it was something to do with your time in Nam, but I don’t want to guess anymore. I want you to talk to me about it.”

“Well, it looks like I don’t need to Davey, because you got it in one!” Klaus said, patting Dave on the chest.

“Klaus -”

“There’s nothing else to tell Dave! I saw some fucked up shit over there and sometimes it comes back to bite me in the arse. That’s it!”

“Klaus -”

“ _Dave_ ,”

“Why don’t you tell me about it?” Dave asked so softly that it tore Klaus up inside as he bit back. 

“Why? It’s over now, it’s in the past. I’m not that soldier anymore.”

“But it’s part of who you are,”

“Not anymore!” 

Klaus had been tugged and pulled through the timeline so many times now that who was to say that he had even gone to war? He hadn’t been able to bring himself to even check if anyone by the name of Klaus Hargreeves was in any of the war records in this timeline. That whole time of his life with soldier-Dave and the 173rd had probably been completely erased from existence. 

How was Klaus meant to explain to Dave how he felt about something that probably had never happened apart from in his own memories? 

Was it even important to remember anymore if there was no-one, dead or alive, who had experienced it but him? Wasn’t it better to just shut it away as something that never happened?

He had _this_ Dave now. He didn’t have a reason to hold on anymore. 

“Klaus, I’m just trying to understand -”

“You can’t!” Klaus shouted back, surprised at how upset he was. “How can you possibly understand?”

_How can you understand when I can’t even understand it?_

“I’m trying Klaus,” Dave said back, his voice raised. He jumped to his feet. “You aren’t even giving me a chance!”

The shrill ring of the phone cut through the tension in the room. Dave stormed over and answered it. 

A few seconds later, he called out to Klaus.

“It’s for you.”

Klaus accepted the receiver from Dave, not making eye contact.

“Hello?”

“ _Oh, sweet Jesus, it is you._ ”

“Ray?”

Klaus could almost cry. 

“ _What are you doing in 1970?_ ” Ray asked with a chuckle.

“It’s a long story,” Klaus replied.

“ _Sounds like you need to tell me all about it,_ ” Ray said knowingly. Klaus bit his tongue to fight back the tears that Ray’s calming voice was triggering. 

“Yeah,” he choked out. 

“ _Well, as luck has it, I’m coming to New York in two days. Have you got time to meet up?_ ”

“Yeah, definitely,” Klaus said, cheering up.

“ _Well I’ll call you when I get in. Is this number okay? I tried to call you at the YMCA, but they said you weren’t there anymore and gave me this number to try._ ”

“Yeah, well, that’s part of the long story. I’m staying with Dave so you can call here to catch me.”

“ _Was that Dave before?_ ” Ray asked excitedly. Klaus hummed. 

“Yeah.”

“ _Well I can’t wait to hear this story. You take care now Klaus, and I’ll see you soon._ ”

“You too, Ray.”

Dave was in the bedroom with the door closed when Klaus hung the phone up. 

He grabbed a jacket and his set of keys and headed out to get some air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for panic attacks
> 
> Oh no :( Poor Klaus.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get worse for Klaus, but there's hope on the horizon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW at end

Dave had never felt more miserable in his life. He and Klaus weren’t _fighting_ per se. It was worse. His boyfriend was pretending that everything was okay. 

Klaus plastered on a fake smile, snuggling into Dave on the couch and completely ignoring the massive elephant in the room - something he seemed quite skilled at. Dave had tried to approach the topic of what had happened on the hike a few times, but each time Klaus had deflected (another skill of his). 

Lately, he’d been thinking about how Klaus could be the one, someone he could spend the rest of his life with, but doubt was now gnawing at his gut. What was Klaus hiding? 

Dave hated to think like that, he wanted to trust Klaus wholeheartedly, afterall, wasn’t that what all good relationships were built on? 

But how could he trust Klaus when Klaus couldn’t trust him?

Dave watched as Klaus paid for their doughnuts at the silver van on the corner near the park, chatting animatedly to the vendor. 

One thing his life had taught him was that there was no point wondering _what if?_. If he had done that, he would never have gotten his degree or moved to New York or come out. He could be dead on the side of a hill in Vietnam, never having the chance to explore who he was. 

He loved Klaus. He loved him as strongly as the moon pulled the tides. 

Tonight, he would talk to him, properly. He’d been so worried about it all ending up in a fight or losing Klaus, but he couldn’t worry about the _what ifs_. If he wanted Klaus to trust him, he had to trust in _them_ \- that they were strong enough to get through this. 

Klaus bounced back over to Dave, presenting the oily bag of doughnuts like a prize. 

“I even got half without jam, just for you!”

Dave gave him a smile, finally feeling the warmth that had been missing over the last few days as he looked into Klaus’ bright eyes. 

Klaus scooped a fried ball out of the bag before handing them to Dave, taking a big bite out of one before cursing loudly. He stuck his tongue out, fanning it rapidly. 

Dave laughed, passing Klaus his bottle of Coke. 

“Serves you right for not waiting,” Dave teased, leading Klaus to the park across the road. 

They sat on the concrete edge of a statue, a monument to whoever the small park was named after. They watched kids swarming over the playground, squealing and laughing as they chased each other over the equipment. Dave let his mind drift to wonder what it would be like if he and Klaus could be sitting here, watching their own kid. He could see himself starting a family with Klaus - not that it would ever be possible, but he could just imagine Klaus being the fun dad. He chuckled to himself, imagining the lanky man trying to fit himself through the tunnel slide. 

“Now there’s a pair of foxy papas if I ever did see some.”

Dave looked up to see Klaus bouncing up to throw his arms around Nina. He spun her around, grinning like a loon as she protested, calling Klaus some names that probably weren’t appropriate for a kids playground. He set her down, dodging her playful punch. Dave stepped forward, giving her a peck on the cheek. 

“What are you doing here?” Dave asked as Nina dug through the bag of doughnuts. She took a mouthful of one, shrugging. 

“I was just walking past.”

“And let me guess, you just felt the pull of our undeniable animal magnetism,” Klaus joked, flicking her dangly gold earring. Nina rolled her eyes, then examined the doughnut she was chomping on. 

“Why ain’t there no jam?” she demanded, scowling at the offending doughnut. 

“Because Dave is a weirdo,” Klaus teased, sticking his tongue out at Dave. 

A high pitched scream and a flash of movement caught Dave’s attention. A small kid with jet black hair toppled from the monkey bars, hitting the ground hard. It didn’t take a moment for the boy to start screaming his lungs out, clutching at his arm. 

Dave rushed forwards, closer than the other adults gathered around the benches on the other side. He crouched over the child who was crying hysterically.

“Hey buddy,” Dave said, his hands hovering uselessly. “What hurts?”

“My arm!” he wailed, rolling in the bark. He continued to scream, loud enough to make Dave wince. 

“Shh, you’re okay,” Dave said, lifting the boy so that he was sitting up. His tears dissolved into hiccups. 

An Asian woman with her hair pinned back by an elegant clip dropped next to the boy, scooping him into her arms. She checked the boy over, clicking her tongue at his already swelling arm. 

“There’s a clinic over the road,” Dave said, pointing to the small doctor’s surgery just near the doughnut van.

“Thank you,” the woman replied in heavily accented English, hauling the sobbing boy onto her hip. She picked up her purse and headed towards the doctor’s.

Dave looked around to the statue, unable to see Klaus or Nina. 

“Excuse me, are you Dave?” a woman asked, leading a chubby little girl by the hand. 

“Err, yeah,” Dave replied. He had never seen her before in his life.

“A woman with big hair just took off down the street chasing some lanky fellow, she said to let you know.”

Dave scrunched up his face, confused. Where did they go? Why couldn’t they just wait a minute for him to go with them?

“Do you know where they went?” Dave asked the woman. She shrugged. 

“Nah, but that man ran off like a crazy person, all covering his ears and everything.”

Dave’s heart sunk. He stood in a daze as the woman wandered on, pulling her child away from the bag of doughnuts she’d spotted sitting on the edge of the statue.

He wondered if Klaus was having another episode like he did on the hike. Dave remembered how scared he had been. And now he was alone.

No, Nina must have gone with him - she’d look out for him. 

But where did they go?

Nina cursed that boy’s stupid long legs. Klaus was already around the corner, out of her sight, but that didn’t matter because she knew where he was running to. 

She hadn’t noticed at first, watching Dave’s caring nature take over as he helped that poor kid who had fallen off the monkey bars. It was the breathing that first caught her attention, the loud, sharp, wheezes in her ear. 

When Klaus dropped to his knees next to her she thought he was having some sort of fit. His hands were jammed over his ears and his breathing was so loud that she was about to call for a medic. 

She reached out and touched Klaus’ shoulder, asking him if he was okay, but the moment her hand made contact, he scrambled away, then took off in a full sprint. She only had the chance to point and shout out her garbled message to that woman before she took off after him. Hopefully the woman understood enough to pass on to Dave that Klaus had taken off. 

Nina had never pegged Klaus as a crazy cat, but she had no other explanation as she ran down the street, her platformed rubber wedges slapping against the concrete. She had caught him whispering to people that weren’t there before and just put it down to a side effect of the drugs he used to take. 

She reached the apartment building, hitting the buzzer for apartment six. She looked up at the window where Dave always checked who was at the door before unlocking it, but it didn’t open. Nina cursed. She was sure that Klaus was in there but there was no way to get in there. 

Unless . . .

There wasn’t much that Nina couldn’t do in platforms, including climbing a fire escape. She scaled the ladder like a leema, jogging up the clanging metal stairs as she counted the floors. She knew that she had reached Dave’s kitchen window from the bright orange gerbera in the vase on the window sill that screamed Klaus. 

She dug her nails under the window and pulled it up, breathing out a sigh of relief when it opened. She would have to talk to the boys about locking it. This was New York City after all. 

Threading her legs through the window, she landed in the kitchen sink. Climbing out, she dusted herself off and shut the window, looking around the apartment that was a lot less neat than when Dave had lived alone. 

Klaus wasn’t in the living room, nor was he in the bedroom. Nina started to doubt that he was there at all until she heard something clatter in the bathroom. 

She ran across the living room, throwing the bathroom door open. 

Slumped on the floor with his long legs bent was Klaus, but it was what was in his hands that took the breath from Nina’s lungs. 

It wasn’t the fact Klaus had the little container of prescription medication in his hand. It was how _many_ he had tipped into his palm.

Nina swung her hand out without thinking, knocking the pills across the tiles. She dropped onto her knees on the bathmat.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Nina shouted, shoving Klaus hard in the chest. 

Was he back on the drugs again? He told her he wasn’t going to do that anymore. 

Klaus looked up, his gaze just short of Nina’s face, tears streaming from his lost green eyes. The sight melted her anger. 

“Oh baby, what’s happening?” She settled her hands on Klaus’ knees. She could feel him shake like a subway train. 

He didn’t reply, he just scrubbed at his face, looking at the vanity. 

“Klaus -”

“I just wanted it to stop,” he whispered, so softly Nina almost missed it. 

“What do you mean?” Nina asked carefully. 

It seemed Klaus had done all his talking though because he didn’t say another word until the front door opened.

“In here!” she called out, quickly gathering up the pills from the tiles and scooping them back into the little orange canister. She stuffed it in her pocket just as Dave reached the doorway.

“Klaus,” he breathed, raw pain in his voice. Nina stood up and made room for Dave to take her place. She watched while he tried to get Klaus to look at him, tenderly tilting his chin upwards. 

With some coaxing, Dave got Klaus off the bathroom floor and gently led him to the couch. 

Klaus looked like he’d seen a ghost. His hair was messed up from where his hands had been scrunching and pulling at it and he was five shades paler than he had been in the park only half an hour earlier. 

Nina stood in the kitchen, watching as Dave whispered into Klaus’ ear. After a while, Klaus nodded, finally listening and responding to what Dave was saying. 

After settling Klaus down on the couch with a blanket over him, Dave joined Nina in the kitchen.

“What happened?” Nina hissed, glancing over to where Klaus was laying, only his dazed eyes visible above the blanket. 

“I was hoping you could tell me,” Dave said back in a low voice. 

Nina had thought she was going to hide the pills from Dave, but after seeing him look after Klaus, he deserved to know. 

She pulled out the canister, rattling the pills absentmindedly. “When I got in here, he had these.”

Dave took the pills, reading the label. “They’re painkillers,” he said simply. 

“He had half the jar tipped out into his hand.”

The poor man looked utterly lost, his mouth hanging open. 

“I know he’s not doing that shit anymore, but you know he’s been struggling since that thing with Tanna.”

The look that Dave gave Nina told her that he absolutely _didn’t_ know. 

Shit. 

Saving Nina from thinking of something to say, the phone rang on the wall between them. Dave picked it up.

“Hello? . . . . Who’s this?” 

There was a prickliness to Dave’s voice. 

“Who are you? . . . . He’s not available right now . . . . how do you know him? . . . .”

Klaus appeared out of nowhere to duck under Dave’s arm and take the phone, much to Dave’s displeasure.

Who was that?

“Hello?” Klaus choked out. He was still feeling very shaken up. He’d been about to do something very stupid, and all because of . . .

“ _Klaus, it’s me. Just leaving the hotel now._ ”

Klaus sagged, relieved to hear Ray’s voice. 

“Okay, I’ll come now.”

Ray muttered under his breath on the other end of the line. “ _Okay, but you better be ready to talk about whatever has you so wound up,_ ” he threatened, hanging up. 

“Who was that?” Dave asked, his patience gone. He’d been so sweet and caring only a moment ago. Klaus had almost told him everything. Almost. 

“Just a friend, I’m going to go meet him now.”

“You aren’t going anywhere like this,” Dave growled, standing between Klaus and the door.

“Dave, please, I just need to go, just for a bit -”

“And then what? You’ll come back and we pretend nothing happened again?”

“Please,” Klaus begged desperately, “I just need an hour . . .”

“Who was he?”

Klaus pulled his arms tighter around his stomach that was tying itself in knots. How would he explain who Ray was without telling him _everything_?

“He’s just a friend - ”

“Is he a dealer?” Dave asked suddenly. Klaus shook his head feverently. His boyfriend scoffed, turning away. 

“I swear Dave, he isn’t!”

“You aren’t leaving here in this state! You just tried to swallow half a bottle of pills!”

Shit.

“Klaus? You just -”

“I know!” Klaus scrubbed at his face. “I know, but I’m not going to do anything like that, I just . . .”

_I need someone who knows me because right now I don’t know myself . . ._

Nina stepped forward, holding her hands out like she was approaching a wild animal.

“Hey, how about I go with him, yeah? I’ll make sure he gets wherever safely, and I’ll get him back here.”

Dave turned away, thinking. 

“You’ll call if there’s any problems?” he asked without turning around.

“I’ve got the pennies ready to go,” Nina replied. Without waiting for Dave to answer, she took Klaus’ jacket from where he’d tossed it on the couch and led him out the door. Klaus put the jacket on, wiping his tears away with the sleeves. 

“So who are we meeting?” Nina asked, taking Klaus’ hand in her own as they walked down the street. 

Klaus sniffed. “His name is Ray. He’s a good guy.”

Nina arched an eyebrow.

“Trust me, not that kinda guy.”

“Are you sure you’re okay to be doing this? Now, so soon after . . . you know.”

Klaus nodded. 

“I’m sorry.”

Nina squeezed his hand as they rounded the corner. 

“You scared the hell out of me, Slim.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to,” he said, tossing his head back to try and blink the tears away. 

“You scared the hell out of your boy too.”

“I know.”

“So why the hell are we on our way to see this Ray instead of going back there and sorting shit out with him?”

“Because if I go back now I’ll fuck it up.”

“And what, seeing this guy’s going to make a difference?”

Klaus shrugged. 

As soon as Klaus saw Ray standing at the gates of the park, he dropped Nina’s hand and ran. Ray barely had a chance to turn around before he had his arms full with a bony, gangly person. 

“Klaus,” Ray gasped, wrapping his arms around him. Klaus couldn’t stop, he burst into tears, sobbing on Ray’s shoulder. 

“It’s . . . s . . sso good to see you,” he said, muffled into Ray’s suit jacket. He looked older, his hair more greyed, but still as sharply dressed as ever.

“You too,” Ray said soothingly, rubbing his hands up and down Klaus’ back. “And hear you. Sounds like your voice is all better.”

Klaus nodded. 

“And who’s this young lady?”

“Oh!” Klaus said, peeling himself from Ray. “This is Nina. Nina, this is Ray.”

“Nice to meet you,” Ray said, holding out a hand. Nina took it dubiously, shaking it. “I’m Klaus’ brother-in-law, which I’m sure he hasn’t told you because he never tells anyone anything.”

Nina smirked, glancing up at Klaus. 

“Nice to meet you, Ray.”

“So, what’s going on?” Ray asked in a tone that garnered no bullshit. 

Klaus dropped his shoulders. “I did something stupid and Dave is angry at me.”

“Would that something stupid have anything to do with your previous bad habits involving substances and not talking about things until they end up blowing up on you?”

Klaus nodded. He didn’t expect the sharp slap across his ear. 

“Klaus Hargreeves, you are a fool.”

Nina cackled, clapping her hands. 

“Oooh, I like this guy,” she cooed. She looked over to the deli across the road. “I’m going to grab me a coffee. Meet you boys back here in half an hour?”

Klaus nodded, giving her a quick hug. 

He turned back to Ray.

“So.”

“So.”

“You better start at the beginning.”

So Klaus told Ray about Five dropping him off for his mission, about his failed attempts to get Dave’s attention and about meeting Nina and her introducing them. He told Ray about finding a job and staying at the YMCA. 

“Okay, so now for the parts you aren’t telling me,” he said as they walked ambling around the path in long loops.

With a sigh, Klaus told Ray about Tanna and the drink spiking. It was harder to talk about the incident in the alleyway, but thankfully Ray filled in the gaps. He ducked his head as he told Ray about how he lost his temper and punched Tanna, losing himself the room that Dave had gotten for him. 

“I know I shouldn’t have let myself get that angry and get violent,” Klaus said, ashamed. 

“Klaus, don’t get me wrong - we should always look for non-violent solutions to the issues in our world, but this Tanna doesn’t sound like an issue. He just sounds like an arsehole, and there isn’t any good solution to that.”

Klaus smiled, looking sideways at Ray. 

“So what’s happened today?” Ray asked. 

Klaus sighed, running his hands back through his hair. It felt like a mess.

“I’ve been struggling a bit with the whole _Vietnam_ thing.”

“How do you mean?”

“The other day I lost my shit over some rain and mud and, I dunno, I thought I was back there with Dave or something. Then today, there were these kids and a playground, and they were screaming . . .” 

Klaus stopped in his tracks, taking a second to catch his breath again before it raced out of control. He knew there were words to describe what he’d been feeling, but labelling it might mean it would be harder to just push down, to push away. 

“Sounds like some pretty heavy stuff,” Ray said calmly. Klaus nodded. 

“He . . . the kid . . . he sounded like . . . and then Dave picked him up. . .”

_They were travelling in the back of a supply truck when they suddenly stopped. Sarge ordered them to stay put, but of course they all found gaps in the tarp to sticky beak at what was going on. Klaus missed out on one, so he settled back on the floor of the truck. There was a horrible burnt stench in the air, stinging Klaus’ nose._

_He had tried to climb into the truck as if it could still interact with the living world. New ghosts were the worst, still in shock over their deaths._

_What made this one worse was that it was a child. He was naked - the chemical that had burned his skin obviously having eaten through his clothes as well._

_The poor kid was screaming._

_Klaus scrambled away from the ghost-child, edging his way around the wall of the truck until he stumbled off the back onto the road._

_He hadn’t even noticed that some of the other guys were also off the truck. Guys including Dave who was crouched in the long grass, holding the seizing body of a little boy, his skin burned pink and black. Dave was leaning into the child’s ear, his lips moving as the body stilled._

_Klaus watched as his ghost silently watched the soldier crying over his body, still clutched in his arms._

_The ghost from the truck was grabbing for Klaus’ hand, his cold fingers passing through Klaus’ as he wailed from the pain. He pulled away, backing into the grass on the other side of the road._

_“Get back on the truck,” Sarge called urgently. Klaus looked up to see the thick smoke pluming into the air ahead on the road._

_It was too late though. It was too late for Klaus._

_The ghost of a woman staggered towards him, a cloth-wrapped bundle in her arms. She wailed, chanting the same phrase over and over. A young girl reached her remaining arm out towards Klaus, screaming in horror._

_He didn’t remember getting in the truck or the drive back to the base, or the way Dave held his hand tucked under his thigh, out of view of the rest of the guys, but he did vaguely remember Jasper dragging him to the latrine after he had downed most of his stash in one go that night._

__

“So what did Dave say about it?”

“Err . . .well I haven’t really given him much of a chance to say anything about it.”

“ _Klaus_ ,”

“I know, I know, but this Dave - he’s different. The other Dave was going through the same shit with me, I was already a dopesick mess when I met him that I couldn’t hide it, he knew from the start. This time, I don’t have to be that guy. I can be the guy that Dave deserves - except I can’t . . .”

“Stop, stop,” Ray said, grabbing Klaus’ flailing arm. “If Dave loved you when he knew everything about you, what makes you think he won’t now?”

“Because, I’ve been lying to him and making out I’m something I’m not.”

“How have you lied to him?”

“I dunno. I didn’t tell him I used to be a junkie, or a whore, or that I lived on the streets.”

“Okay, but it’s not like you’re doing any of that now. Are you planning on going back to that lifestyle.”

“No,” Klaus said, “but I almost did. Today I almost did.”

Ray waited patiently. 

“You know how I said about the playground, I kinda freaked out today, like really freaked out. I ran back to the apartment and there were these pills. They were painkillers from when I hit my head, I told Dave I didn’t want them, but he got them anyway just in case and I accidentally found them the other day. I wasn’t . . I wasn’t doing anything _stupid_ , I just wanted it to stop . . .”

“So Dave loves and cares about you, the person you are now, but there are all these things he doesn’t know about you. Would Dave have gotten the painkillers if he knew _why_ you didn’t want them?”

“I guess not, but then he’d know I was a junkie.”

“What do you think would happen if he knew that?”

“Well, he knows that now. Nina told him.”

“So Nina knew the whole time?”

Klaus nodded. 

“And what did she do when she found out?”

Klaus could see where Ray was going and he felt so stupid for not working this out earlier.

“She said she’d look out for me, and she did, today.”

“And now Dave knows, what did he do?”

“Yeah, okay, okay, he tried to get me to talk about it. Fuck, why can’t my brain work these things out for itself?”

“Because from what you and Ben and Allison told me, you were brought up with a pretty warped view of how the world works. What does Ben think about all this?”

“He’s not here, he went to the future with the others.”

“Well, that also explains a lot,” Ray said with a chuckle. Klaus couldn’t help but join him. 

“Can you imagine if he was watching right now? He would have kicked my arse.”

“So, I think it’s about time I met Dave properly.”

Nina and Ray chatted the whole way back to the apartment about Ray’s work with the SJCC. Ray was apparently training up the next generation of leaders to take on the fight, now that he was ‘getting on’ (although he had only just turned forty). Klaus felt infinitely lighter than he had in weeks, hopeful that he could fix this, that he could talk to Dave.

The weight returned when Dave opened the door with splotchy cheeks and his hair a mess. 

"Who are you?" Dave asked protectively, narrowing his red rimmed eyes at Ray.

Ray took control of the awkward situation, offering his hand. Dave waited a few tense moments before shaking it, taking in Ray carefully. 

“I’m Klaus’ brother-in-law, just in town for a few days on business, and Klaus here has a lot to talk to you about, so I think, if it’s alright with you,” he said, turning to Nina, “it would be lovely if you could show me somewhere for dinner.”

“I can do one better, if you give me a chance to call my girl, you can have two beautiful women take you out,” she said with a wink. 

Ray turned to Dave, taking off his hat. 

“He can be a fool, and it sounds like he’s made some silly decisions, but hear him out. He's a good sort."

Both Klaus and Dave ducked their heads and looked away, Klaus blushing profusely. 

And so, Klaus and Dave were left sitting on the couch in the empty apartment, the honking of the traffic outside the only sound. They sat side by side, Klaus staring intently at a little donkey figurine on the TV cabinet that didn’t seem to make any sense in Dave’s apartment

“I’m sorry,” Klaus started, tapping his fingers nervously against his knee. “I should have been honest from the start.”

“I’m sorry you felt you couldn’t be,” said Dave, his voice still tinged with bitterness.

“It’s not that, I . . . I just, I was scared. I thought you wouldn’t want me once you knew everything.”

“And now?”

“I’m hoping that Ray’s right and you still might.”

“Only one way to find out,” Dave said.

Klaus turned to Dave, looking down at the tattoos on his palms. “I have to warn you though, a lot of it I’m not proud of and there’s also a lot that is going to sound really, really crazy, but I promise I’m not making it up or lying and I can prove it all to you, just . . . “

“Klaus, I’ll listen.” 

Klaus glanced up to see the sincerity in Dave’s eyes. 

“Okay, here goes. Where do I start?" His leg bounced up and down while he searched for the words. "Well I guess . . . no. Urg, this is hard.”

Dave took Klaus’ hand in his, tracing the lines on his palm. 

"Klaus, I said I'll listen."

Dave's calm voice gave him the confidence he needed to try. 

“Okay, okay, I’ll just start with the big one. Well, one of the big ones. So, I left home when I was like sixteen, right after my brother died.”

“Were you close?”

Klaus nodded. He would get to Ben, he would, he just needed to get this all out.

“I could say that’s what kicked off the drugs and drink, but to be honest, I was into all that well before Ben died. The only thing that changed is that I didn’t care about hiding it anymore. I don’t remember any time between then and the age of twenty nine when I was sober for more than a week at a time. I was homeless and spent a lot of time on the streets or finding other places to crash. The worst part is I thought I was meant to be high, that the only way I could exist in this world was drugged up and out of my head.”

“Why did you think that?” Dave asked, confused. 

“That’s another part of the story. I’ll get there,” Klaus said sadly. “So, being homeless and having a few hundred dollar a day drug habit meant that I had to do some things I’m now not so proud of to get money.”

Klaus felt Dave’s fingers stiffen against his palm. He pushed on, ignoring Dave’s reactions. He couldn’t stop now if he wanted to do this.

“So that situation that night at the club,” Klaus said slowly, scratching at the seam of the couch with his free hand. “I’d been in that situation many times before, but I guess I didn’t say no those times.”

Klaus felt Dave tense next to him. Maybe it was too much, after all, he was telling his boyfriend that he used to sell himself for drugs. How was Dave supposed to react to that?

“What made you quit? The drugs?” Dave said, his voice dry and cracking. 

“I met someone. In Vietnam actually. Of all the places to fall in love and I met the strongest, most beautiful, kind man I’ve ever met in my life. He was the love of my life. Then, after ten months together, he died.”

Dave sat forward, leaning on his knees. Klaus couldn’t guess what he was thinking. 

If he thought about it too much, he might stop. 

He kept going. 

“So I guess the next thing is my family. We’re all the same age, well, not anymore, but we’re all adopted. Our dad didn’t buy us because he wanted a big family, no, he was raising an army. The competitiveness pushed us apart, and whatever damage we didn’t do to each other he did with his own special tactics. He died a few years back and we started to reconnect and now I’m pretty close with them again. There’s seven of us all together. I’m closest with Allison, who’s married to Ray, and Ben and Diego, but I get on much better with Vanya and Luther and Five now too.”

“Five?”

“Yeah, we all had numbers first, then got our names, but Five ran away and missed out.”

Klaus leaned forward and picked up the donkey ornament, turning it over in his hands. It was a cool porcelain with a little piece of fabric glued over it’s back like a blanket. 

“This next part is the part where you’re just gonna have to stay with me. I know it’s going to be hard to believe, but I swear, it’s the truth.”

He looked up at Dave, who nodded for him to go on. Klaus focused back on the donkey in his hands.

“So the reason our father bought us is because we all have special abilities. I hate to say powers, but that’s exactly what they are. Luther’s super strong, Diego can bend the direction of anything that’s thrown through the air, Allison has mind control, Five can teleport through time and space, Ben has like this portal to monsters in his stomach and Vanya can control sound.”

Klaus waited silently, listening to Dave’s breathing. 

“What about you?” he asked without any emotion. 

“Um, err, I can see ghosts.”

Dave didn’t react at all. 

“Yeah, so, it’s a pretty shit power and honestly it’s why I started taking the drugs, to block it out, but it’s come in handy because it means that I can still see Ben.”

“The brother that died.”

“Yeah, the brother that died. I mean, I can’t see him right now, but, yeah.”

Klaus watched Dave but couldn’t work out from his stoic staring at the carpet if he believed him or not. 

“So the next crazy part has to do with time and space. So I’m actually not from here. I’m from the future. Er . . . 2019. We accidentally maybe caused the end of the world, so Five like, jumped us back to what was meant to be a few weeks earlier but accidentally took us to Dallas in 1963. I was there for like three years. That’s where Allison met Ray. Then Five worked out a way to get us home, so all my siblings have gone back, but Five dropped me off here for a few months.”

Klaus could feel his heart racing in his chest. There wasn’t much more, he was almost there, but this was the big part. 

“The truth is, I did go to Vietnam, but not the way everyone else did. In 2019, when I was still a junkie, I accidentally time travelled back and landed in a tent in the middle of the A Shau Valley. So, when we got kicked out in 1963, I realised I had a chance to change the future.”

It didn’t take Dave as long as Klaus thought it might to work it out. Of course, Dave was always so clever.

“You tried to save the man you loved,” Dave said coldly. 

“Yeah, and I did. I stopped him going to war. But it caused a major change in the timeline which meant that the Commission, who are like these people who try and keep the timeline in order, were going to kill him anyway, unless I could convince him to remove himself far enough out of the timeline that he wouldn’t change it, so bring him to 2019.”

“Did you do it?” Dave asked. 

“I don’t know,” Klaus said, looking carefully at Dave. “That’s up to you. Dave, you’re the man.”

Dave froze, staying stock-still for almost a minute before speaking. 

“So you’re saying . . . no . . . nope . . . _but I didn’t go to Vietnam_! I was going to sign up, but . . .”

“A man who looked incredibly similar to Ray sat next to you on a bus and talked you out of it?”

Dave swung around abruptly, staring at Klaus with wide eyes.

“No, it wasn’t him.”

“He quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson and made a big speech about finding your fight.”

Dave gasped, holding his hands over his mouth.

“I was sitting just across the aisle. For me, that was just a few months ago.”

“That was seven years ago!” Dave shook his head as if he was trying to shake Klaus’ words out of his head. “No, that’s just a coincidence!”

“In an alternate version of events, you signed up that day. We met in a tent on the side of a hill and fell in love only for you to die in my arms. I couldn’t let that happen again, and in trying to fix it I’ve stuffed something else up. You’re going to die again unless you come to 2019.”

Klaus felt tears in his eyes as he sat across from Dave who was still shaking his head. 

“You don’t even have to stay with me, if you don't want to, you can live your own life once you’re out of this timeline. I just can’t leave you to die again.”

“Klaus, why are you saying this?” Dave asked, standing up and running his hands through his hair. 

“I’m not lying Dave, I know it’s _out there_.”

“Doctor Who is out there. This is . . . .”

“I know,” Klaus sobbed, rubbing his face. 

“I . . . I just need . . . “

Klaus never found out what Dave needed because a beat later the front door closed and Klaus was curled up alone on the couch, tears flowing down his cheeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for flashbacks/PTSD/aftermath of war & attempted drug use & referenced prostitution 
> 
> And you thought the angst would all be over once Klaus came clean . . . Next chapter, I promise! I mean, it was a lot to dump on the poor man all at once!
> 
> Dave and Ray have a chat and the boys finally sort themselves out.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave needs some time. Talks happen (and don't happen)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Light warning at the end

“Uh boy, this looks serious.”

Robin folded his coat, draping it over the back of the chair before he joined Dave at the table. The bar wasn’t one of Dave’s usual haunts, but it was dark and dingy and suited his mood just fine. 

Dave took a long sip of his beer.

“Let me guess, it’s that fella you’ve been dating?”

Dave nodded, picking at the label on his bottle. Robin had only met Klaus twice, once at the Moonwalk before they’d started dating and that time at the university, but Dave was fully aware he never shut up about his boyfriend in the office and Robin probably knew more about their relationship than he’d wanted to. 

“I’ll get us something stronger,” Robin said, exasperated. 

He returned a few minutes later, plonking a dark liquid in front of Dave in a short tumbler. Dave wasted no time in taking his first sip. 

“So, what happened? I thought you guys were all Love Boat-ed up?”

Dave sagged. “He told me some stuff, stuff about his past . . . or actually his future . . .” 

He trailed off, finishing his sentence with another gulp of his drink. 

“Let me guess, he’s a stripper?” Robin joked. Dave shrugged. Klaus never really got into what exactly he meant by _doing anything for cash_. Robin winced, realising he might actually have hit close to home. 

“Well, that’s not so bad is it? He’s got that other job now, at the bar? It’s not like he’s cheating on you or anything.”

Dave huffed. “I thought he was though.” He shook his head, taking another sip before continuing. “There was this guy that kept calling up the house. Klaus said he was just a friend, but still, in the back of my mind, I thought it might be something else.”

“And was it?” Robin asked, lighting a smoke. 

“Nah, it was his brother-in-law.”

Robin smothered a laugh. 

“Seemed like a real nice guy too.”

“Oh Dave,” Robin said, leaning back in his chair with a shake of his head. “And I always thought I was the insecure one in relationships.”

“That’s not all though,” Dave added somberly. “He told me all this other crazy shit and I can’t work out what he was getting at by saying it.”

Robin tapped his cigarette into the green glass ashtray, eyebrows arched. 

“What sort of of crazy shit?” 

Dave downed the rest of his drink, then waved to the bar tender for another round. 

“Woah boy,” Robin said. “Must be some pretty crazy shit.”

Dave waited until his new drink was in his hands. 

“He told me that he’s a time traveller. From a family with _superpowers_.” Dave whispered the last part, looking around to see if anyone was watching. It was a Sunday night. The bar was practically empty. 

“What kinda superpowers?” Robin asked, curious. 

“One brother can control stuff in the air, and one has a portal in his stomach to a monster world, and his sister does something with sound - and Klaus - he said he could see ghosts.”

“Interesting,” Robin said, tapping his chin.

“ _Interesting?_ It’s crazy, isn’t it?”

Robin stared at the ashtray, deep in thought. 

“Not necessarily. All those powers sound like they take route in principles of physics. Resistance, sound waves, space and time.”

“What are you saying, you believe him?” Dave asked in shock. 

“Dave, what possible reason could he have for making it up? He isn’t out for your money,” Robin chuckled, taking another sip of his first drink. 

“Fine, but he could just be - you know -”

“Delusional? Yeah, he could be. Did he say he could prove it?”

“Yeah, actually he did.”

“And?”

“I didn’t wait around for him to show me.”

Robin rolled his eyes. “As a scientist and an astrophysicist Dave, I would have thought better of you. Of all people, you should know better than anyone how much there is that we don’t know about our universe.”

Well, yeah.

“But time travel?”

“C’mon Dave, as if you haven’t read hundreds of papers on the possibility that alternate realities in time and space could exist?”

“But nothing’s been proven.”

“Yet. Nothing has been proven _yet_.”

Dave sighed. “So you think he was telling the truth?”

Robin shrugged.  
“I think I want to see how this ghost power works,” Robin said, rubbing his hands together excitedly. “I wonder if it has anything to do with ultraviolet rays or seeing things that are already there, but not on the spectrum the human eye can see . . . “

“He had some pretty crazy stuff to say about me too,” Dave muttered. 

“Like?”

“He said we had met before.”

“In a past life?” Robin asked, sounding disappointed. 

“No, like maybe a different timeline?”

“Oh, see now that’s more like it,” he said, rubbing his hands together. 

“When I was younger, I was ready to sign up to go to Nam.”

Robin scrunched up his nose. “Why would you do _that_?”

“It was different then,” Dave said, sliding his drink around the table. “JFK had just been shot and there wasn’t all of this anti-war sentiment. The cameras hadn’t gone into the warzone yet.”

Robin nodded somberly.

“So apparently, in this other timeline, I signed up. Klaus reckons he accidentally time travelled back from 2019 and landed in the middle of the war.”

“Far out! That would be shit luck! Of all the places you could end up.” Robin tapped his cigarette again. “Jesus, I can’t imagine that skinny bloke fighting.”

“I always thought he was drafted. He never wants to talk about it. He has these nightmares where he just wakes up screaming, and lately I think he’s started having flashbacks.”

“Shit.” Robin said, taking a long swig of his drink. “So he said you two served together?”

Dave nodded. 

“So how is he here?”

“Reckons he time travelled or something and ended up in 1963. That’s where it gets real weird.”

Dave was starting to have to concentrate harder on getting his tongue around the words. He had been drinking for a few hours now, so it was plausible that he was starting to lose control of his senses. 

“So I was about to sign up, yeah, in 1963, but then I had this conversation with a guy on a bus that changed my mind. I applied for college instead.”

“So what, it was Klaus who changed your mind?”

Dave shook his head. “It was his brother in law. Klaus reckons he was there, sitting behind me or something, but he planned the whole thing out. He was trying to stop me from going to war.”

“He must have gone through some heavy shit to do all that to stop you from going.”

“He said he saw me die.”

“ _Shit_ ” 

Robin waved over the bar tender, sloppily ordering more drinks. 

“So what are you going to do?” Robin asked. Dave shrugged. 

“I dunno - it’s just _a lot_ ,” he said, motioning to his head. “So many questions.”

“So why don’t you ask them?”

Robin rolled his sleeves up, his face starting to glow pink from the booze. 

“Look, I definitely ain’t an expert on relationships, but I’ve never seen you as happy as these last two months. Whatever’s going on with you two, you’ve gotta sort it out.”

Dave woke up the next day with a heavy heart and a splitting headache. He fumbled on the coffee table next to him for his glasses and the note written on the back of the Chinese takeaway flyer in Nina’s scrawly handwriting. He’d barely understood it the night before, plastered as he was. He didn’t even make it to his bed, instead collapsing on the couch.

_Don’t worry, Klaus is staying with Ray at the hotel. He’s safe._

_Don’t be a dick xx_

After chasing down some aspirin with a cup of coffee, he showered and scrubbed his teeth, trying to rid his mouth of the taste of stale whisky. He’d just finished getting dressed and was about to call Nina to find out which hotel Ray was staying at when there was a knock at the door.

At first, his heart leapt thinking that it was Klaus but then he realised that he wouldn’t need to knock - he had keys. He opened the door to find Ray standing there, coat looped over his arm. Dave peered hopefully into the hallway behind him.

“He’s not here. Klaus is sleeping it off in my hotel room. He was exhausted.”

Dave nodded guiltily, stepping aside to let Ray in. 

He quickly rearranged the couch to make it less obvious that he’d slept on it and offered a space to Ray. 

“Can I get you a drink?”

“If that’s coffee I can smell, a cup would be great.” 

Setting a mug in front of Ray, Dave took a seat on the chair opposite. He took in Ray’s face, his outfit, his smooth way of talking. 

“It’s really you, isn’t it? They guy from the bus.”

Ray’s face relaxed into a smile as he nodded. “Seven years ago now. It was the last day I saw my wife.”

“Klaus’ sister yeah?” Dave asked. He felt suddenly foolish for not knowing anything about Klaus’ family. Sure, he’d been secretive over the last few months, but yesterday, when he finally started opening up, Dave just walked out without asking any questions. All this time he’d been asking Klaus to talk to him, and when he finally did, he pushed him away. 

“Klaus would have done anything to save you. He’s literally been to hell and back chasing a second chance. He hung onto those dog tags like a lifeline, never forgetting you.”

Dave huffed, shaking his head. 

“Sorry. . .” he said, holding his head in his hands.

“I know. It’s a lot to take in. I remember the first time I saw Ben.”

“The dead brother?” Dave asked incredulously. 

“The very same. He follows Klaus everywhere, although he’s in the future with the others right now. I think he wanted to give Klaus some time alone with you or something, but they’ve been together for almost fifteen years now. I’m not surprised Klaus has gotten in this pickle without Ben telling him what to do. Ben was always the sensible one. Klaus - he follows his heart.”

“And you saw him? His brother?” 

“Yeah, he’s blue and glows when Klaus manifests him, but apparently he looks completely normal to Klaus.”

Dave sunk back into the chair. His head was throbbing and he couldn’t tell if it was the hangover or his mind was just about to explode. 

“I know what you must be thinking,” Ray interrupted, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. “This is either a very elaborate hoax or everything you knew about the world was wrong. I get it. It took me a while to come to terms with everything that was the Hargreeves. Just when you think you’ve found out the weirdest thing about them, something new pops up.”

Ray watched Dave pensively before he spoke next. 

“Let me ask you something - do you love him?”

Dave rubbed a hand over his eyes, shielding them from Ray as he nodded. 

“Then what else matters?” 

Ray had let himself out while Dave was deeply wrapped up in his thoughts. 

When the door opened again later that afternoon, Dave was sitting at the kitchen bench, pencil in hand. Klaus looked terrible, and yet neater than he had the whole time Dave had known him. His shirt looked like it had been _ironed_. 

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

He stood there, fidgeting with the beaded bracelet on his wrist that Dave had bought him, looking out the window. Even as bloodshot as they were, his eyes looked beautiful in the afternoon light. 

“Can we talk?” Dave asked timidly. Klaus’ head snapped back to look at him, nodding. 

They sat on the couch, Klaus sitting stiffly next to him. Dave put an arm around him, relaxing as Klaus melted into his side. 

“I have some questions,” Dave said, pulling out the sheet of paper he had been working on since Ray’s visit. 

“Holy hell,” Klaus said, eyeing the long list. He sat up straight, stretching his arms in front of him. 

“I’ll answer whatever you ask, I swear,” Klaus said earnestly. 

“Okay, tell me what happened in Vietnam. With us.”

Klaus’ face softened, a small smile creeping onto his face. “I landed in your tent wearing nothing but a towel. You were so kind, you took care of me and got me all set up even though I was clearly a hot mess. I think I fell in love with you first, but you always said that you’d known from the start. You were such a gentleman and waited until our second leave in Saigon to kiss me. After that though, well, it was kinda like now. I couldn’t keep my hands off you. We had to be careful, but we always found time to sit and talk . . . or do a bit more.” 

The tips of his ears flushed pink. He cleared his throat before continuing.

“I talked to you about _everything_ , well except the powers and the time travel, but all about my life back home, the mistakes I made.”

“Why couldn’t you talk to _me_ about that stuff?” asked Dave, the hurt crumbling his voice. 

“I don’t know,” Klaus said, pulling at his shirt sleeve. “I think, in Vietnam, I always wondered if maybe you were with me because you didn’t have a choice. You’d think with all those guys that there would be some options, but there weren’t. So I guess I felt like I could tell you things because you didn’t really have the option to leave me. When I got here, I saw a smart, gorgeous, kind man living in the epicentre of gay life in 1970 who could have any guy he wanted. So I guess I was trying to be a guy that you might want.”

“What do you mean?”

Klaus shrugged. “I’m an ex-drug addict who wasted my twenties getting high and partying. Before I met you, my longest relationship was three weeks, and that was just because I had a place to sleep. You’re a university professor with a stable job and an apartment and friends who actually like you. What would you want with me?”

Dave was about to respond, but Klaus kept going.

“And I thought I was doing okay, that I could just put all that shit in the past and it was working, but then the stuff with Tanna, and then I dunno, the freakouts? I . . . I don’t know what’s happening to me. I feel like I’m losing my mind.”

“Tell me about it.”

Klaus shuddered against Dave, curling in on himself. “It’s like . . . I mean, I’ve had nightmares for a long time, before the war and everything, and I guess that’s what they’re like. Nightmares, but I’m awake - but it kind of feels like when you’re asleep and you know that it’s not real but you can’t wake up so you wonder if maybe it is real.”

Dave had heard of men returning from wars with injuries that no-one could see. His uncle on his mum’s side had come back from WWII with what everyone back home had called _shell shock_. He used to sit in the living room all day, staring at the TV whether it was on or not. 

The list of questions lay on his lap, but Dave had lost his spot. He had new questions he wanted to ask.

“When you say you’ve had nightmares for a long time . . . what do you mean?”

Klaus picked at his shirt, looking suddenly very young still curled up in a ball against Dave’s side. His voice was so small when he spoke. 

“I know you might or might not believe me about my powers, but for a minute just pretend they’re real. So the ghosts, they’ve always been there, and some of them are nice and calm but most of them are angry, the ones that stay anyway. I never knew how to control them so father-dear used some unconventional methods to try and bring out my powers, but it made it worse. It took thirty years and eventually getting sober to finally get _some_ control. Still, they are always there.”

“Are there any here now?” Dave asked, a shiver running down his spine when Klaus nodded. 

“Yeah, but he’s okay. Just an old dude. I think he used to live here a while ago.”

Dave licked his lips. “Um, Ray, he said you could . . . with Ben . . .”

Klaus looked up at Dave with his soft eyes. “You want to see him,” he said, knowingly. 

Suddenly feeling foolish, Dave stuttered. 

“No . . . no, you don’t need to. It’s okay -”

Klaus sat up, shaking out his hands. “It’s fine. I’ll show you.”

Dave swore that his heart actually stopped as Klaus’ hands started to glow blue. The ethereal light spread up his wrists following the lines of his veins, fading out under the sleeves of his shirt. It was like something out of a sci-fi show.

“Hi.”

Dave’s head snapped up at Klaus’ voice, his eyes finding the spot in the room Klaus was looking at. Standing in his kitchen was an old man dressed in suspenders and a pageboy hat, his hands in his pockets. His whole form was tinged the same blue as Klaus’ hands. A hand rolled cigarette dangled out of his mouth.

“Knew you could see me boy,” the man scowled, jabbing a gnarled finger in Klaus’ direction. “Now, what have you done to this here house?” 

Klaus turned to Dave. “I looked it up in the library the other day while you were at work after listening to old whiny over here. This used to be some sort of boarding house for workers before it was divided up into apartments.”

“I’m talking to you!” the man snapped, stomping closer. Klaus gasped, shaking the blue light from his hands. The man disappeared as if he had never been there at all. 

“So . . .” Klaus said, sounding a little out of breath. 

Dave realised his own mouth was actually hanging open. 

“That was a ghost?”

Klaus nodded slowly, watching Dave out of the corner of his eye. 

“How -?”

He shrugged. “My siblings and I were all born on the same day with these weird powers. I’ve only been able to do that,” Klaus said, pointing to where the man had been standing in the kitchen, “for the last few years.”

“Is he still here?” Dave asked. Klaus nodded. 

“He never leaves, I don’t think he realises that he’s dead. The ones that die suddenly can be a bit like that.”

They sat wordlessly on the couch, side by side until Klaus finally broke the silence.

“So, what’s the next question on that?” he asked, pointing to the paper on Dave’s lap. He noticed the shake in Klaus’ usually confident voice. 

Dave picked it up, scanning down the scrawled list. Some just didn’t seem important anymore. There was a second list of questions he wrote on the back of the page, a list he only dared to write out of sight because the questions on that list meant that everything Klaus was saying about powers and time travel was true. 

He chose one of them to ask next.

“What did you mean when you said that stuff about us going to the future and the Time-Travel Corporation?”

Klaus was no longer pressed against Dave’s side. 

“When we set up that thing on the bus and convinced you not to go to Nam, it turns out it caused some big change in the timeline. Usually that meant that the Commission would take care of it, by killing you.”

He drew in a deep breath. 

“But then there’s these new people in charge at the moment. My brother used to work for them, so they gave him this time-travelling briefcase and said if we take you far enough out of the timeline, then they won’t kill you.”

Klaus’ shoulders hunched around his ears as he continued on, mumbling.

“I . . . I thought that . . . might be a second chance . . . but s’okay . . .I’m sorry, I know you don’t get much of a choice. You don’t have to . . . once you’re in the future I know you’ll do okay, I’m sorry . . .”

Dave twisted around so that he could see Klaus’ face, which he had ducked into his chest. 

“So you’re saying that I don’t have a choice but to leave here and time travel fifty years into the future?”

Klaus nodded, silent tears streaming down his cheeks. 

“Or else these Commission people will kill me?”

He nodded again. 

“I’m sorry, it was my fault,” Klaus, voice shaking. 

“Because of the thing on the bus?”

Another nod. 

“But if you didn’t get Ray to talk me out of signing up that day, I would have gone to Vietnam and been killed?”

Klaus didn’t nod this time, he just sunk his face into his hands. 

Dave shuffled his arm around Klaus’ shoulder, which made him shake harder. 

“Why are you upset?” he asked softly. 

“Because . . . because now,” Klaus sniffed, rubbing his eyes. “Because now you have to give up your life here and start again, and it’s my fault. I . . . I thought maybe that if I could do better, if I could be better that you might want . . . but I can’t.”

He scrubbed his hands over his face, trying to draw in deep breaths. 

“It’s okay though, even if we’re not . . . you’ll do okay in the future. You’re smart and beautiful and things are different for non-straight people in the future . . .”

“Klaus, what are you saying?”

“I understand if you want to go to the future . . . separately.”

Dave pulled Klaus into his chest, holding him tightly.

To be honest, Dave hadn’t been sure what he was going to do or even what he believed when he woke up that day, but in that moment it seemed so clear to him the path ahead that there wasn’t even a decision to be made. Holding Klaus in his arms, he had never been more sure of anything in his life. 

“Klaus, I don’t care if we live in New York or Dallas or 1970 or 2019, as long as I’m with you.”

The other man peeked up from where he was hiding against Dave’s chest, his eyelashes clumped together with tears. 

“What . . . what are you saying?” he asked, a little breathless. 

“I’m saying that I’ve never been as happy as I have been with you.”

“But . . . but I’m a mess. I tried, I tried to be better but I couldn’t -” 

Klaus’ voice was so muffled by tears that it made Dave’s own eyes start to prickle. 

“You don’t need to be better - you’re perfect Klaus.”

Klaus buried his head back against his chest, shaking with fresh sobs. Dave ran a soothing hand through his long hair. 

“I love you Klaus. Nothing you could say to me could change that. I sort of understand why you kept things to yourself, well, some things, but next time just talk to me. About your past or the drugs or whatever. I’ll listen, I swear.”

“You . . . you still want me?” Klaus asked in a small voice. 

Dave lifted Klaus and shuffled him so his long legs were straddling his lap. He pressed his palms against Klaus’ cheeks, forcing him to look Dave in the eye. 

“I want to be with you Klaus, if that’s what you still want. I couldn’t think of anything better than spending my future with you - or your future, or whichever future-”

Klaus let out a laugh, tears still streaming down his face. 

“I don’t understand it either, you’ll have to ask Five, he’s the expert -”

Dave cut him off, pulling Klaus’ face down towards his own. The kiss was messy and wet and Dave could taste the saltiness of the tears that had run down Klaus’ face, but it was perfect. Klaus keened as Dave let one of his hands run down the back of his neck, sliding firmly against his spine. It was Dave’s turn to let out a muffled moan as Klaus rolled his hips ever so slightly into his lap. His fingers found the buttons of Klaus’ borrowed shirt, undoing them hastily. Once they were undone, Klaus shed the layer, roughly yanking Dave’s own t-shirt over his head. Dave took a moment to take in Klaus’ bare chest, the tattoos that he never talked about but that he could now ask what they were all for, especially the strange one on his stomach. 

Dave rolled Klaus over, pinning him on his back on the couch, needing more contact. He ran his hands roughly through Klaus’ hair as he nipped at his neck. 

The buzzer for the front door went off, but whoever it was could get stuffed. At this time of the afternoon it was usually bible pushers or vacuum cleaner salesmen. Klaus seemed to agree if the way his hands were unbuckling Dave’s belt was anything to go by. Dave pressed his groin downwards, trapping Klaus’ hand and slowing his progress down. He needed a second to gain some composure, or this wasn’t going to be as long a session as they both would hope. Instead, he scraped his teeth against the underside of Klaus’ jaw, feeling his lover’s body shudder under his own as he whispered something hoarsely about _not fair_. 

A loud scrape that sounded very close made Dave jump. He froze, staring into Klaus’ startled green eyes. 

“ _Fuck_!” Klaus whispered, glancing over towards the kitchen. 

“Dave Katz, I know you’re in here, and you better be ready to sit your arse down and listen!”

Dave mouthed the swear word back to Klaus. How the fuck had Nina gotten into his apartment?

He popped his head up over the couch, Klaus hiding under him. 

“Good Lord, you looked half-shagged! Did you get on the sauce last night?”

Nina didn’t wait for a reply. She looked furious, arms swinging as she stormed from the kitchen towards the couch. Dave scrambled to do up his belt while he felt Klaus writhing under him, probably looking for his shirt. 

“I hope you have one hell of a hangover for breaking that poor boy’s heart! I have some things to tell you and you better damn well listen.”

Dave grabbed his t-shirt, holding it over his chest in some semblance of modesty while Klaus was still looking for his own, ducked behind him. It was all for naught, however, for the way that Nina’s eyes widened into dinner plates as she rounded on the couch. 

“Oh.”

Dave glanced behind him to see Klaus was biting his lip, trying not to smirk. He had not managed to find his shirt, and was instead still half-reclined on the couch, naked from the waist up. His hair was an absolute mess. Dave noticed that there were scrape marks down his neck that he may or may not have caused moments earlier and would have faded away by the time anyone saw them had Nina not broken into his apartment. 

Unfortunately, the sight did things to Dave that he quickly hid by nudging a cushion over his lap. 

“Um,” he said, searching desperately for any words that might be able to make up a sentence. 

“Oh,” Nina repeated. “Well, um, I guess you two have talked?”

Klaus nodded emphatically. 

“Good,” she said, sounding nothing like her normal, confident self. “Good. Okay, I’ll see you later.” 

She headed back to the kitchen where Dave noticed the window to the fire escape was open. 

“Um, Nina, the door?” Dave said, pointing to the much easier exit. 

“Nah, this is fine,” she said far too cheerily, backing out the window.

The moment the window slammed shut, Klaus burst into laughter. Dave dropped his burning face into his neck, moaning loudly in embarrassment. 

“It could have been worse,” Klaus chuckled, wrapping his limbs around Dave. 

“How?” Dave mumbled, still hiding against Klaus. 

“She could have walked in five minutes from now.” 

“And how would that have been worse?” Dave asked, his embarrassment starting to ebb away to be replaced with a much better feeling. 

Klaus untangled himself and knelt up on the couch, Dave following him around so that he was lying on his back with his legs either side of Klaus’.

“Because she would have found us like this,” he said, pulling down his own pants and underwear in one smooth move. 

Dave moaned throatily. “Yeah, that would have been worse,” he said, far too distracted by the sight of Klaus’ naked body to notice what he was saying. 

Not even the bloody president walking in the front door could have stopped Dave at that point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Light sexy-time
> 
> And now for the crazy chapter that I've been looking forward to writing. . . .


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Party time and goodbyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last one! Thanks to everyone for reading and coming along for the ride.

Klaus rolled over, slamming his hand down on the alarm clock. It had been uselessly going off every morning since Dave quit his job, but Klaus had no idea how to program it not to. 

“Sorry baby,” Dave croaked, rubbing his eyes. “I’ll switch it off today.”

“Doesn’t really matter, does it?” Klaus replied, eyeing Dave carefully. He waited for his boyfriend to catch up and realise what he meant. 

That this was their last day in 1970. 

He waited nervously until Dave smiled, wriggling over to press a kiss to Klaus’ lips. He then jumped over Klaus, ripping the alarm clock from the wall and scrambling to the window. He heaved it open and threw the thing out the opening, grinning back at Klaus as it smashed on the pavement below. 

Klaus smiled back, propping his head up dreamily as he stared at Dave dressed in nothing but his boxers. The last week had been filled with talks about the past, the future and everything in between. He wished Ben was there to see the progress he had made. He’d never had more honest conversations in his whole life as he had in that last week. 

It hadn’t been all smooth sailing though. There had been tears and a few slammed doors and one point three days ago when Klaus had genuine doubts whether it could ever work but every time they got through it. Who would have thought that _talking_ about your feelings could have solved so many problems? Those guys at group therapy had been onto something. 

They had spent the week taking Dave’s possessions down to goodwill. He donated a lot of his clothes to the YMCA for the men who turned up there with very little but the shirt on their backs. Klaus had assured him that they could buy new clothes in the future that would be much more fashionable for the time. While they were at the boarding house, Klaus took the chance to apologise to Leroy for his behaviour, which felt almost as good as sharing his feelings. Leroy had just shaken his hand and told him all was forgiven.

(Later that night, Dave told Klaus that Leroy had been looking for an excuse to kick Tanna out and was actually grateful for the incident.)

As luck would have it, the date that Five gave Klaus as his date of return happened to be the day of the first Pride March, which made it the perfect ‘going away’ party. They had told all their friends that they were going backpacking around the world for an indefinite amount of time. Klaus had desperately wanted to tell Nina the truth, but in the end it was Ray who talked sense into him. He was right, it wouldn’t be fair on Nina to drop something so outrageous on her only to leave days later, and he saw Ray’s point when Nina had burst into happy tears at the news that he and Dave would be travelling together.

That was only half a lie, anyway. 

After a shower that went far longer than it should have thanks to Dave joining him, Klaus wandered through the empty apartment back to the bedroom to get dressed for the parade. He’d purchased a stunning sequined dress that had made Dave blush when he brought it home. Pairing it with some glittered eye-shadow and cute slides (he couldn’t find heels in bigger sizes anywhere!) he stepped into the lounge where Dave was sitting on the floor, dressed in his tight white singlet that Klaus had painted a rainbow flag on and hip-hugging jean shorts. 

“Wow, Sunshine, you look . . . beautiful.” 

Dave’s eyes roamed Klaus up and down, his mouth hanging open. Klaus ducked his head shyly, waving away the compliment. 

“So do you,” he said, kneeling next to Dave on the floor. He leaned forward, pressing a kiss to his bare shoulder. 

“Oh no, nuh-uh,” Dave said playfully, pushing Klaus away. “We’ll never make it if we start this again.”

Klaus whined. “But _Dave_!”

“Don’t _but Dave_ me, we’re already late after the shower -”

“Which you started -”

“- which I started, but as you said, we have our whole future ahead of us. All our friends are waiting. Plus, we don’t want to ruin your make up.” 

“Fine,” Klaus pouted, standing up and pulling Dave to his feet. “But once we get to 2019, you owe me.”

“Deal,” Dave said, brushing a stray hair out of the glitter on Klaus’ face. 

The parade was everything Klaus had hoped it would be. Sure, it wasn’t as big or fancy as the ones in the future, but what it lacked in glitz and glamour it made up for in passion. As they waited to start, a middle-aged woman next to him was sobbing into her partner’s shoulder. Klaus couldn’t imagine what it would have been like to have had to hide yourself for so long. 

By the time they had reached the main stretch of the parade, Klaus and Dave had ended up at the front, waving to the crowd as _Lola_ played through the old speakers. Dave had stopped to kiss Klaus in the middle of the street, dipping him back like a latin dancer. He had forgotten that for Dave, this moment meant a lot as well. While this Dave hadn’t hidden his sexuality the way that Vietnam Dave had, well, at least not in his adult life, it still couldn’t have been easy for him, especially back in Dallas. Klaus hadn’t missed the way Dave’s eyes sparkled with tears as they walked down the street, hand in hand. 

They were greeted with cheers as they entered the Moonwalk after the parade. Nina, Julie and Ray were standing around a bar table, all with drinks in hand. Some of Dave’s workmates including Robin were in a booth. Even Leroy was there with some other beefy guys Klaus had seen around the YMCA. 

The parade-goers started to fill the bar, carrying the party on inside. The bar was decorated with tinsel looped around the rafters and Julie had organised a list of brightly coloured drinks for the occasion. Even Mario was wearing a tiara that Nina had put on him earlier in the night. 

At some point, pizzas arrived in Maria’s signature boxes, passed around the hungry crowd. Dave and Klaus had gone for dinner there the night before to say goodbye. Both of them had been given big kisses on both cheeks. 

An hour or so after they had arrived, Klaus slumped onto a stool next to Dave, followed by Nina who had been dancing with him. He brushed his sweaty hair out of his face. 

“So, where are you meeting your brother?” Dave asked. Klaus shrugged. 

“He never told me where, but I’m sure he’ll find me.”

“Who’ll find you?” a familiar voice asked from behind him. Klaus spun around, dragging his big-little brother into a bone crushing hug. 

“Fivey! I’ve missed you!”

“Urg,” he groaned, remaining stiff under Klaus’ embrace, but also not shrugging out of it. He was still wearing that shirt and short combo that he’d been forced to adopt in 1963 when his uniform got ruined. 

“Five, I’d like you to meet everyone,” Klaus said excitedly, pulling a stool out for his brother to sit on. “This is Nina, and Dave, and you know Ray, of course,” he said, pointing to everyone. “And this is Five.”

Five nodded curtly, his eyes settling on Nina’s lurid green drink. 

“Is that a margarita?” 

“Yeah, it is,” Nina replied suspiciously. 

Five disappeared so quickly Klaus thought he may have flashed. 

“Um, Klaus, should he be in here? And drinking?” Dave asked in a low voice. At Klaus’ confusion, he continued. “Isn’t he a bit young?”

Klaus laughed. “Oh no, he’s actually fifty-eight. He’s just stuck in a child’s body.”

At Dave’s shock, he added, “Time travel.”

Dave’s eyes widened further. “Will that happen to us?” he hissed. 

“Oh no,” Klaus said, patting Dave’s arm. “We’re using this briefcase thing. Five did that to himself with his powers.”

A moment later, Five slid back onto his stool with a whole jug of frozen margarita, sipping from a straw jammed in the top. 

“Oh boy,” Ray sighed, sipping his own drink. “You’re going to end up going to the Dark Ages.” 

Five glared at him, undeterred. 

Klaus, Dave and Nina had returned to the dancefloor with some of Dave’s work friends, leaving Five with Ray. He’d been surprised to see Ray there, given they’d left him in Dallas, but it made sense given Klaus’ ability to mess with the timeline. 

“Are you Klaus’ brother by chance?” a portly guy who screamed science nerd asked, tentatively approaching the table. 

“I am,” Five said defiantly. He’d had to defend his brother enough times that he was prepared for a fight. 

“My name is Robin, I’m one of Dave’s work mates. He told me about the _you know_.”

Five exchanged a look with Ray, who definitely also didn’t know. 

The man tapped his watch, glancing at Ray.

“You mean the time travel?” Five asked. “He knows,” he said, acknowledging Ray. 

Five levelled his best glare at the man.

“What’s your point?” 

“Well, um, I work in astrophysics, with Dave, and time travel is a massive interest of mine. I just, I just wanted to talk.”

And so, Five and Robin chattered all the way through his margarita jug, Robin ordering one of his own part way through their conversation, leaving Ray to abandon them with his jacket and head out to the dancefloor. It had been liberating after so long to speak to someone who was actually intelligent enough to understand the conversation. After a bit, Dave joined them, sweaty from dancing. On hearing what they were talking about, Klaus dragged Ray and Nina over to the bar, leaving the three of them to discuss the Grandfather Paradox, something which Five had not yet been able to experiment with and wasn’t sure he wanted to. 

Some time later, once the margarita jug was finished and taken away, Five noticed a man staring at Klaus, watching him from across the bar. Klaus hadn’t seemed to see the guy. 

“Who’s that?” Five asked, chewing on his straw. 

Dave turned around. “Oh, him,” he said, with a disdain that he’d only heard from Diego before. “That’s Tanna.”

“Why’s he staring at Klaus?”

Dave almost growled. “Because he’s a jealous prick.”

If Dave had a power, it could have been blasting things away with his eyes from the way the man was glaring at Tanna. 

“Is this the guy you were talking about?” Robin asked, stretching up in his seat to get a better look. “The one that got Klaus kicked out of the Y?”

Five looked expectantly at Dave. He was not going to get away with not telling Five the full story.

The man took a deep breath.

“It sounded like Tanna had it in for Klaus as soon as he met him.”

“What did Klaus do to him?” Five asked. 

“Nothing,” Dave said, a hint of warning in his voice. “Whether it was jealousy or bullying or he’s just a nasty person, he just had it in for him. It all started when he spiked his drink on a night out.”

“Has Klaus been clean?” Five asked seriously. Dave nodded. 

“He says since before Dallas.”

“ _Shit_ ,” Five hissed. It was so hard for Klaus to stay clean. He glared at the skinny bastard on the other side of the bar, wearing short denim shorts and a slimy smile. 

“Then there was the big one. They both used to work here together, then one night Tanna suggested to some guys who were drinking at the bar that Klaus was into business that he wasn’t.”

“Dealing?” Five asked. Dave shook his head, his hands balled tightly into fists. 

Oh. Five was a smart guy. It didn’t take a lot of brain power to work out what Dave meant. Hell, from what he’d gathered from Diego and Allison since he’d gotten back from the first apocalypse, Klaus had been in that line of work on and off for years. 

“Hang on, what happened?” Five asked, remembering the new scar he’d noticed peeking out from Klaus’ hairline. 

“It’s lucky you guys were superheroes or whatever and Klaus spent some time in Vietnam and that he can handle himself,” Dave said darkly. “Or it could have been worse, and trust me, it was bad enough.”

So this guy had hurt Klaus. He’d hurt his brother. 

“I’ll be back.”

Five wandered up to Tanna, hands in his pockets. He may have looked cool and calm on the outside, but inside he was trying to quell the murderous streak that was itching to split the leg off a bar stool and stab it through Tanna’s neck. 

The man was laughing at some other guy’s joke as he turned around and spotted Five. 

“Wow, looks like they’re letting kids in now,” he smirked, lazy eyes running up and down Five’s small stature. 

To be fair, Five had flashed straight into the bathrooms and bypassed security all together. 

“Can we have a word?” Five asked with the assurance of an assassin. Tanna laughed. 

“Sure little guy! You can hang out with us,” he said, pulling out a stool while he exchanged a wink with his mates. 

Clearly he thought he had the upper hand. Clearly he thought Five was some kid out for his first time at a bar. 

Clearly he was wrong. 

“No, I just want a word alone with you.”

“Oh honey, you really aren’t my type,” Tanna said to the amusement of his friends gathered around him. 

“It will only take a second,” Five said firmly.

He walked away, hearing the scrape of Tanna’s stool as the man followed, laughing to his friends about _seeing what the little tyke wants_.

He waited until they’d rounded the corner to the bathrooms and noticing that no-one was around, he turned around and grabbed Tanna’s wrist and _jumped_.

Tanna barely had the chance to get his bearings after being squeezed through the space continuum before Five pushed him back, grabbing on to the loop of his denim shorts at the last second with only Tanna’s heels still making contact with the ground. 

“What . . . what the fuck?” Tanna squealed over the howling wind. He twisted as his arms waved, trying to grab onto the railing, but gravity was pulling him too far away. 

“Stay still, it’s a long way down.” 

“What? W . . .where?” 

Five grinned at the fear in his voice. 

“Top of the Empire State Building.”

Tanna screamed, high pitched enough that Five almost let go to cover his ears. The guy was tilted so far back that if Five let go of his belt loop, he’d be free falling. 

“Who are you, what do you want?” Tanna shrieked. 

“I heard that you hurt my brother.”

“Who’s your brother?” Tanna asked desperately, his head twisting to try and get a glimpse of how far up he was. Five would have advised not to do that. He would definitely let go if the guy pissed himself. 

“Klaus.” 

“Klaus? No, it was Klaus who hit me!” Tanna shouted. 

“With good reason,” Five countered. Tanna was shaking, his bug eyes desperately searching for something to grab onto.

“Okay, fine! I won’t go near him again, I won’t, I swear!”

“Oh, I know you won’t. But you still hurt him, and so you need to pay.”

Tanna screamed, babbling a string of apologies and pleas. 

Unfortunately, he also kept writhing, and Five didn’t have that great a grip on the belt loop. He _had_ drunk a whole jug of margarita. 

He’d never intended to let go, but he did relish the way Tanna screamed in terror as he free fell down the side of the building. 

He even watched for a bit before sighing and flashing after him. 

Five dropped the shaking mess of a man on the bathroom floor of the bar, chuckling as he clung to the tiles as if they were about to fall away from under him. Five leaned into his ear, whispering coldly. 

“No-one messes with my family.”

Five returned to the table with another cocktail, this time some blue concoction that he’d pointed to on a glittery menu. Dave and Robin were eying him carefully. 

Five took a long sip, then put his drink down on a paper coaster. 

“What?” he asked.

“Where’s Tanna?” Dave asked suspiciously. 

“He fell. I don’t think he’s feeling too good.”

Dave nodded, a satisfied smile on his face as he took a sip of his beer. 

Klaus was having the time of his life, so much so he almost didn’t want to leave, but thinking of Ben and Allison and the rest of his family reminded him why he had to go. 

Five was quite a few drinks deep by the time the night was coming to a close. Klaus had even managed to get him out onto the dancefloor to _Get back_ , his little big brother taking off his tie and swinging it around as he strutted the boards. Nina danced with him to _Proud Mary_ , spinning Five around until his hair was sticking to his forehead with sweat. It turned out that the little guy had some moves, although where he had picked them up was anyone’s guess. Klaus picked him up and spun him around, ignoring his cries of _put me down!_ The little shit used the cover of the dancefloor lights to flash out of Klaus’ grip and resume his dancing out of his reach.

Klaus and Dave were slow dancing to Stevie Wonder, his sequined dress catching the dancefloor lights. He could actually imagine marrying the man, his family watching on as they had their first dance to a song like this. 

He couldn’t believe that he could have Dave forever. 

The song ended and cut to something annoying and forgettable when Five stumbled over, saying something about heading to the bar.

“I better go with him,” Klaus said with an eye roll and a quick kiss for Dave. Nina took up Klaus’ spot, dancing with his boyfriend while Klaus kept an eye on Five. 

The wily little shit had managed to push his way to the front of the crowd. Klaus could only just squeeze in behind him. He was waving a $20 note around, trying to get Julie’s attention behind the bar. Klaus leaned over the top of him, helping himself to a glass of water. All the dancing had left him parched.

“Hey sweetheart,” a thick, chocolate-toned voice said from beside Klaus. “Are you needing a Daddy tonight?”

Klaus spun around, ready to tell the man that he was very much spoken for when he realised that the guy was actually talking to Five. 

Even though Five wasn’t actually a teenager, he still looked like one and this guy had to be at least twenty. 

“You can back right off,” Klaus warned, leaning over from behind Five to glare at the man. His eyes flashed dangerously. 

“Sorry honey, didn’t know you already had a daddy,” the man leered with a wink, holding his hands up. Klaus scrunched up his nose. Oh, he’d had enough guys try that line of enquiry on him when he was Five’s supposed age, but _him_ and _Five_? Urg! And was he saying Klaus was old?

“Pfft,” Five scoffed, turning to face the guy, sizing him up with his ice cold eyes. “As if. I would _so_ be the daddy.”

Klaus spat out his water, spraying it over the bar. 

At least Five’s comment made the guy lose interest and leave. 

Five had already moved on to bigger and better things.

“2 jugs of that purple tingle thing and 5 glasses!” he called out over the bar to Julie. 

“Shoulda known this kid would be with you,” Julie smirked, filling up the blender with a generous amount of vodka. 

“He’s my brother,” Klaus explained, flicking Five in the ear. He copped a back kick to the shins in retaliation. 

“I can see it now,” she said, looking between them, nodding her head. 

Klaus and Five exchanged confused glances. They had never thought of any of the siblings looking slightly similar. 

“Not so much the looks,” Julie added, landing the two jugs on the counter. “More the general air of chaos.”

Both Klaus and Five shrugged. That was fair. 

More drinks and more dancing and Klaus was starting to regret wearing his heavy dress. At least he didn’t have heels on. Nina’s girlfriend Tracey came to join them after her nursing shift. She was a voluptuous, big-hearted woman with dance moves that made Klaus jealous of his bony arse. The way Nina’s face lit up once she arrived made his heart swell. 

“They are so cute together,” Klaus said, hugging Dave from behind as they watched Nina and Tracey dance to Queen Aretha. He was so happy that Nina had someone that made her feel the way Dave made him feel. 

The night sadly ended with goodbyes out the front of the bar. Robin and Dave hugged awkwardly while Klaus shook hands with Mario and Joe. Julie gave them both a big kiss on the cheek and Leroy had gone straight in for the bear hug. 

Klaus wasn’t looking forward to saying goodbye to Nina.

“So,” she said, scuffing her platform shoes. 

“Come here,” Klaus said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into his chest. He rested his chin in her hair. 

“I don’t know where I would be without you,” he said, holding her tight. “You were my first friend here. I owe you everything.”

“You don’t owe me nothing Slim,” Nina said back, her voice thick. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” Klaus choked out, releasing her. She wiped her eyes quickly, turning to Dave.

“You take care of him,” she warned before hugging him too. Klaus scrubbed his eyes, unable to hold back the tears. He’d never had a friend like Nina. Ben had been his constant companion, but they were brothers. Nina _chose_ him, and he chose her. 

Nina folded into Tracey’s arms, bravely wiping away the tears.

A small hand rested against his back. Klaus draped his arm around Five’s shoulders, grateful for the support. 

He would miss his friend so, so much. 

One last teary hug and Ray was helping Nina and Tracey into a taxi, sharing a last hug of their own. 

“You aren’t saying goodbye to Ray,” Five said, more of a statement than a question.

“No, I’m not,” Klaus said, watching Nina’s taxi pull away. 

Five sighed.

Klaus and Ray had talked about it that night at the hotel after Dave took off. Seven years ago, he hadn’t been ready to leave the civil rights fight, but now he had a whole new generation of leaders ready to make the difference that he had been working towards. 

As important as change was to Ray, life was nothing if you had no-one to enjoy it with. 

And so, the four of them trekked to Grand Central Station to the locker that Five had stashed the briefcase in. He led them to a dark alleyway and instructed them to all hold hands. Klaus grabbed Dave’s hand, giving it a squeeze. 

“Are you sure?” he asked, looking in Dave’s direction in the dark.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Dave said warmly, squeezing his hand back. Klaus wished he could see the expression on his face.

“Hold on,” Five warned. Klaus heard the click of the briefcase. His stomach lurched, remembering the horrific trip he’d taken after hearing that sound when his hands were still stained with Dave’s blood. 

This time, he was bringing him too, alive and whole. 

Klaus waited for the sickening tug. 

Nothing happened. 

“Ah, hang on.” 

That was Five’s voice. 

“Was that meant to happen?” Ray asked. 

“Five, are you maybe a bit drunk to be time travelling?” Klaus asked, being the rare voice of reason.

“No!” he groused back, followed by a series of clicks. “Okay, hang on-”

Klaus barely got the chance to grab Dave and Five before he was sucked into the time-space vortex. 

He hit the ground _hard_. Klaus heard Five grumbling next to him, feeling vindicated that the little guy also had a bad landing. He rolled over, looking for Dave.

His boyfriend was flat on his back, blinking over and over. 

“Dave,” Klaus said, dragging himself to all fours to lean over him. Dave smiled up at him, looking a little dazed but otherwise okay.

They were in the foyer of the Academy, the chandelier still hanging from the ceiling. 

“ _Ray_!” 

Klaus and Dave looked over to see Allison running to Ray’s side, still wearing the same dress she had been wearing three months ago when Klaus last saw her. 

While it had been months for Klaus, it had only been a split second for his family. 

Allison was weeping, touching Ray’s face as he sat up. 

“But, I . . . I don’t understand?”

“I tried Ally, but I couldn’t live on without the love of my life.” 

Allison threw herself at Ray, pressing her face into his cheek. Ray wrapped her up in his arms. 

“I like this,” Allison said, running her fingers over the grey streak in Ray’s hair. He laughed. 

“I got old.”

“You got more handsome.”

“You got more beautiful than I remember.”

The rest of his family were gathering in the foyer, Diego replacing a knife in his holster after Lila clicked her tongue disapprovingly. Vanya was still holding Sissy’s hand, the other one wrapped around the boy. 

“Klaus?”

His heart jumped for joy at that voice that he’d missed for so long. Ben was standing above him, smiling. Klaus didn’t even need to consciously use his powers to make him solid as he threw himself into his brother’s arms. 

“I missed you so much,” Klaus said breathlessly, digging his fingers into his brother’s jacket. Ben rubbed his back in the soothing way he’d started doing in Dallas, although the effect was dulled by the sequins digging into his skin. 

“Looks like mission accomplished,” he said cheekily. 

Klaus blushed. Ben had known about Dave first and he’d seen how Klaus had missed the love of his life ever since the first apocalypse. Evidently, he also knew about his side-trip to New York. 

“Can someone explain what is going on?” Luther demanded. “Why didn’t Klaus and Five come with us and why does Ray look like he’s aged ten years -”

“Seven,” Ray grumbled, flashing a grin at Allison. 

“And who is that?” he asked, pointing at Dave who was still sitting on the floor. 

“I think we better head into the other room,” Allison said, ushering the now large group of people into the sitting room. Klaus let go of Ben to haul Dave to his feet, grinning madly like a loon.

“Er, Klaus?” Dave said in a low whisper as they followed the others. “Maybe I should have gotten changed before meeting your family?”

Klaus looked down at Dave’s Pride outfit. 

“Nah, it’s fine,” Klaus waved off. Dave looked gorgeous. 

Ben rolled his eyes.

“I’ll get you a hoodie,” he offered with a wink, blinking out of sight. 

He returned only a few steps later, holding one of his old baggy hoodies out to Dave, who gratefully put it on. It was a little snug across the shoulders, but Klaus saw the way he relaxed feeling a bit more covered up. 

“So, you’re Dave,” Ben said, eyeing Klaus’ boyfriend carefully. 

“And you’re Ben,” Dave responded in awe. He held out his hand to shake. Ben pushed it away, wrapping his arms around Dave instead. 

“Nah, I’m a hugger.”

Dave chuckled. “I see where Klaus gets it now.” 

Luther cleared his throat once everyone was in the sitting room. Vanya, Sissy and the little boy whose name Klaus couldn’t remember were sitting on the couch. Allison and Ray shared an armchair, canoodling like teenagers. Lila sat next to Diego on the smaller couch, slapping his wrist when he fidgeted with his knives. Five was seated at the bar, already pouring himself another margarita, Luther standing next to him, obviously wondering whether it was worth saying anything or just letting the man get even more drunk. Klaus sat on the floor, squished between Ben and Dave, leaning on his brother’s shoulder while he held his boyfriend’s hand. 

“So who is going to explain?” Luther said, looking around the room. 

Five slurped down his fancy drink before turning to face the group. His eyes were starting to droop a little, which was unsurprising to Klaus with how much the little guy had to drink. 

“Ray and Klaus fucked up the timeline in 1963 by saving Dave. Herb said if we got Dave to agree to leave the timeline and go to 2019, then they wouldn’t _correct_ the anomaly.”

“This guy is Dave?” Diego asked, pointing to the man next to Klaus. Lila slapped his hand.

“Diego! Don’t point knives at people,” she scolded, snatching the blade from his hand. Diego continued to stare, making Dave’s hand squeeze Klaus’ tighter. 

“Diego, stop doing that!” Klaus said, glaring back. He turned to the rest of the group. “Everyone, this is Dave. Dave, this is my family plus some extra people who are also now my family.”

Dave gave an awkward wave that made Klaus’ heart melt. 

“Hang on,” Allison said, leaping to her feet. “This is _Dave_ Dave?”

Klaus nodded, a smile spreading over his face as Allison grinned excitedly. 

“Hold up, this is Soldier Boy?” Diego asked, pointing a new knife at Dave which Lila promptly confiscated. 

“Well, not quite. In this timeline he didn’t sign up, so he’s not a soldier. He’s an astro-something,” Klaus explained, with a flourish of his hands. 

“An astrophysisisist,” Five added from the bar, slurring his words. 

“And so how did he get here?” Diego asked, stepping forwards and bobbing down on his haunches to get a better look at Dave. Klaus felt him shrink further into his side. Before Klaus could do anything, Ben kicked a foot out, knocking Diego off balance and sending him sprawling on to his arse. Behind them, Lila smirked. 

“Stop intimidating him,” Ben scowled. “He’s not like the other ones.”

“And how would you know?” Diego countered. 

Ben rolled his eyes, putting on a dumb voice. “Geez, I dunno, maybe because I followed this dipshit around non-stop for fifteen years?”

“Boys, stop it,” Vanya said, her eyes flashing white for a split second. Ben slumped back with a growl. Diego slunk back to the couch he was sharing with Lila, but continued to watch Dave with his dark eyes. 

“The Commission gave us three months,” Five continued, oblivious to the commotion. “I dropped Klaus off in 1970 in New York then picked them both up three months later.”

“So did Dave know Klaus?” Allison, who now settled back in Ray’s lap, asked, her brow furrowed.

“Not in this timeline,” Five replied. 

Allison held a hand to her mouth. “So you had to get Dave to fall in love with you all over again? And you knew him, but he didn’t know you?” 

When Klaus nodded, his sister melted into Ray, gushing like the rom-com actress she was. 

“That’s so romantic,” Sissy said in her thick southern accent, holding her hands over her heart. 

“Five, have you got glitter in your hair?” Luther interjected, ruining the moment. 

“I may have,” he drawled, chewing on the straw of his drink. His cheeks were flushed pink, clearly quite intoxicated.

“You should have seen the old timer on the dancefloor,” Ray chuckled. 

“Five? Dancing?” Vanya asked, mouth hanging open. Five inclined his head, not confirming or denying the accusation. 

Allison sat up suddenly, wrinkling her nose.

“Ray, have you been drinking?”

The man guiltily shrugged, looking over to Klaus who had to hide a smirk behind his hand. 

“You’re drunk too!” Ben declared, jabbing Klaus in the ribs. 

“I am not,” Klaus protested. “I _have_ had a drink or two, or maybe a few more than that, but I am not drunk. You of all people should know when I’m drunk.”

Ben conceded, rolling his eyes. “You may not be wasted, but you are drunk.”

“So hang on, Five, you time travelled while intoxicated?”

“Pssh,” he said, waving away Luther. “It was with a briefcase. Any dummy can do that. It’s like - it’s like making pancakes from one of those mnix bottles instead of the other way. You know, the way Mom does it.”

Luther shook his head, catching Five and propping him back on his stool when he tipped sideways. 

“Where _were_ you?” Diego asked, surveying the new arrivals. “Before you got here, what were you doing?”

“Pride, Diego baby! Wouldn’t miss the first New York Pride March!” Klaus declared, throwing his arms up and shimming his dress. 

“You went to the first Pride?” Vanya asked in awe.

“You took _Ray_ to _Pride_?” Allison spluttered.

“Hey, he loved it,” Klaus said, exchanging a wink with her husband. Ray grinned, blowing Allison a playful kiss. She rolled her eyes, but was fighting a smile.

“Forget that, how did you get _Five_ to go to Pride?” Diego almost shouted. “That would be like taking Luther to Pride.”

“Actually, I reckon Luther would have loved Pride, if that time at the rave was anything to go by,” Klaus countered thoughtfully. 

“What?!” the others collectively shouted out. Luther ducked his head, trying to make himself look as small as possible and failing dismally while Klaus and Ben impersonated Luther’s rave dancing from their spot on the floor, cackling with laughter.

The others joined them, Diego muttering, _of course the gorilla would dance like that_. 

Luther threw a small vase at him, which Diego deftly caught with a smirk. 

“So, did you have fun old man?” Lila teased, looking over to Five who was back to swaying on the bar stool. He nodded emphatically, much to Diego’s delight.

“Show us your tongue!” Klaus called out. Five stuck his tongue out. It was a mix of blue and purple and tinged with green.

“What the fuck have you been drinking?” Diego asked, shocked. 

“That Julie made the _best_ margs. This is shit,” he declared, abandoning his drink. 

The siblings all parted ways, taking their respective partners (or not in the case of Five and Luther) back to their childhood bedrooms. Vanya had instead commandeered one of the spare rooms to house her, Sissy and Harlan as her room was far too small. 

In a moment of clarity, Five had cornered Klaus in his room and handed back Dave’s dog tags. 

True to his word, he had kept them safe. 

Klaus closed his hands around the metal, but didn’t put them back on. He wouldn’t forget his Dave from Vietnam, but at the same time he couldn’t hold on to him either. It wasn’t fair on the Dave that was brushing his teeth in the bathroom just down the hall, constantly comparing him to a man he would never meet. 

They both deserved the fresh start. 

Klaus carefully put the tags in his trinket box of his most prized possessions, including his photo of the 173rd Airborne that Diego had gotten copied from the VWF and a sparkly bracelet that Ben had gifted to him on their 10th birthdays. 

He turned back to Five to thank him when suddenly his brother flashed away. The sound of retching came from the bathroom, along with a shriek from Dave who was still in there getting ready for bed. 

After checking on Five and sending him off to bed with a tall glass of water and a couple of paracetamol, Klaus sat on his bed, cosied up between Dave’s legs and resting his back against his chest. He and Ben had said goodnight, Ben deciding that he would spend the night in his room, it being the first time that he could interact with the things in it since he died. While Klaus was delighted to have his brother back, he was thankful for the privacy. He’d changed out of the dress, but hadn’t gone as far to put sleep clothes on yet. Dave didn’t seem to be minding too much. 

“So, how’s 2019 so far?” Klaus asked, looking up at Dave. 

“So far, so good,” Dave replied cheerily. 

“Including my crazy family?” 

“Especially your crazy family,” Dave said, pressing a kiss to Klaus’ head. 

“Sorry about Diego,” Klaus said, picking at his glittery nails. “He can get a bit protective.”

“That’s okay, I already got a taste of it with Five.”

Klaus sat up, twisting around to look at Dave. 

“What do you mean?”

Dave chewed his lip, which meant that he’d maybe done something that he wasn’t supposed to do.

“Out with it David.”

“Well, Five brought it up first. He saw the way Tanna was eyeballing you tonight.”

“And I was handling it by ignoring him,” Klaus said firmly. Dave sighed. 

“Your brother is pretty pushy when he wants to be, so -”

“Don’t say you told him what happened -”

“So I told him what happened -”

“ _Shit_ ,”

“And next minute he’s leading Tanna out to the bathrooms.”

“ _Dave_ ,” Klaus whined. “Why did you tell him?”

“He asked, and, I mean, he’s only a kid. What could he do?”

Klaus groaned without any grace as he rolled his eyes. “He’s not a kid, he’s a fucking psycho. He used to work as an assassin. I’ve seen him literally coated in blood after his little kill sessions. He’s more protective of us than Diego is.”

“Oh,” Dave said, biting his lip. 

“Yeah,” Klaus agreed. “Did you see Tanna afterwards?”

Dave shook his head slowly. Klaus grunted, sliding out of the bed. He was only wearing his underwear, but that would have to do.

He stormed out of his room, stomping down the corridor while hollering: 

“Five Hargreeves, where are you, you murderous devil-child?! You have some explaining to do!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Love your comments :)


End file.
